The Fanfiction Graveyard
by ClanCrusher
Summary: Discontinued stories from my early fanfiction writing career. A jumble of anime and game fics all deeply flawed, but kept around for posterity. Browse if you'd like, take the ideas if you want, but just remember these stories died for a reason.
1. 108 Destines: Chapter 1

Author's Forward:

A bad ending I couldn't quite stop thinking about until I wrote something about it. My plan for this was to more or less push the MC into a plot of political intrigue as the numerous allies he'd made called for a shift in the politics of the realm with him at the forefront. Needless to say, it was entirely too complicated and ambitious for my own good, so it's little surprise I collapsed under my own ambition.

And of course, there was going to be a harem involved with the snake lady included, because I had a pretty one-track mind back in the day. I'm not sure that's changed much considering what I'm writing now...

* * *

A/N: I don't normally do Suikoden fanfics. This is my first attempt at one actually. I got this idea after I had played through the game the first time and got the bad ending. This story takes place after the "bad ending."

Although I have not read any of the books, I am going with the name Faourish for the name of the prince since that seems the most commonly accepted. I also named my castle Stormwatch.

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It had been three days since Faourish and his friends had beaten the Sun Rune, and Stormwatch castle had fallen into a slump. The war was over and everyone was happy. It should have been just like the fairy tale endings, right?

Wrong.

Lyon was dead. She had died, taking the final hit for him just before the sun moth had died. Now that she was dead, he could easily admit to himself that he had loved her deeply. No matter what circumstances were, she was always by his side, supporting him to the very end.

And now she was gone.

He couldn't recall just how he had been able to get through the funeral without breaking down right then and there, but he had managed to make it to his room before crying himself to sleep. No one saw him for 2 days afterwards. He had his meals brought to him by Shun Min so he wouldn't have to face anyone.

It was on the third day that Georg had come to his room.

"Faourish. Open up. It's me."

"Go away."

"You can't stay in isolation forever. Open up before I have to break the door down."

Faourish sighed and went to open the door. He was slightly surprised when Georg walked in followed by Miakis, Galleon, and Kyle. Taking seats around his room the Queen's nights formed a semi-circle facing him.

"What do you guys want? The war is over. We won. Shouldn't you all be going back to the castle to serve Lym?"

"That just it Prince," cut in Miakis, "No one has left the castle ever since we won the war. Everyone's been wanting to talk with you. If it wasn't for a personal order from Lucerita herself to give you peace, we wouldn't be the only ones breaking down your door right now."

"So what do you all want? I would have figured that you guys would have at least gone back to the castle by now. Your duty is to the queen right?"

"Prince Ranma?" Everyone's eyes turned to Galleon, "May I have permission to speak freely?"

Overcoming his brief moment of shock, Faourish responded, "You don't even need to ask."

"I am going to be completely honest with you. I am insulted that you still call me a Queen's knight."

Faourish's jaw dropped, "Galleon?"

"Ever since your mom and dad died, that bastard Gizel has dragged the name of the queen's knights through the mud. Not only did the so called "noble knights" set fire to a civilian village, they conspired with Nether Gate, and welcomed their assassins into their ranks."

"But Galleon, surely you cant blame-"

"Please your highness, let me finish," Faourish nodded and he continued, "While some of this can be blamed on the Godwins, I will not forgive the traitors Zahhak and Alenia who merely stood by and did nothing as the royal family fought for their lives."

There was silence following this little outburst. In all his history with the Queen's knights, he had never known Galleon to be one to speak his mind. Even when asked.

"You…all feel this way?"

"Well," said Kyle thoughtfully, "I wouldn't put it in those exact terms, but that's pretty much the case."

Galleon wasn't done yet though, "I refuse to be known as a Queen's knight any longer. If you will have it prince, I would like to join your side as your own personal knight in the years I have left on this earth."

With that, Galleon laid his axe on the ground and kneeled down at the prince's feet.

It took a full minute for what Galleon had said to register in Faourish's brain. After collecting his wit, he answered, "Galleon? Are you sure you want to do this?"

"My mind is set prince."

"Then I accept you as the very first "Prince's knight."

Galleon stood up and bowed one last time before taking his seat.

"I want to do the same," said Kyle suddenly standing up, "You've always been there for me Prince, and you never did blame me for any of my shortcomings, even when I failed the royal family."

Faourish had to interject at this point, "That's not true Kyle. If you hadn't saved me from Dolph and Childrech back in the sun palace, I wouldn't be here today."

"See? Your doing it even now. But the point is, I want to be by your side too."

Faourish put a hand on Kyle's shoulder, "You're a good friend Kyle. I would be honored to have you by my side."

"I would like to join you as well," put in Georg, "Not only do I have no desire to go back to being a Queen's knight, I doubt that I would even be accepted back into their ranks after…" Georg trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished.

"It's okay Georg, I don't blame you. I blame the rune. It took both my parents and Lyon's life. That rune is the only thing to blame. And I would also be honored to have you serve beside me."

Miakis stood up and walked over to the prince. Taking one of his hands, she clasped it in both of hers, "Prince, I know that I can never take Lyon's place, and I don't want to. And I'm also sure that you don't want me to either."

Her tone of voice was a far cry from her usual cheerful self, showing the prince the true gravity of the situation and how important this was to her.

"But I wanted to know, if you would allow me to serve you as your personal bodyguard once again."

"O…of course Miakis."

"Thank you Prince!" And with that she enveloped him in a warm hug, nearly knocking him off his feet.

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Faourish brought his right arm across his chest in a closed fist salute, "Dismissed." Everyone filed out except Miakis.

Seconds after the Prince's knights exited the room, Lucretia entered, along with her two guards Cius and Lelei.

"The woman of the hour," said Faourish in way of greeting, "I don't think I've been given the proper opportunity to thank you for all the help you have been in this war."

Lucretia gave a small bow before speaking, "Not true your highness. I am only part of the reason why we won this war."

Faourish chuckled good naturedly, "Oh spare me. Right now you could tell me to jump off a cliff and I'd do it thinking it was all part of your strategy."

"You flatter me Prince, but I speak the truth."

"Really? What do you mean?"

"Hmm…" Lucretia thought for a moment, "Prince, do you know the difference between strategy and tactics?"

"Aren't they just the same thing?" He asked.

"Not quite. Strategy is the overall long term plan that you follow to win the battle. That is my area of expertise. Tactics are snap judgments made on the battlefield so your strategies don't go to pieces."

Faourish nodded in understanding.

"Every single battle from the time you fought off Armes while under lord Barows banner, to the final invasion at Sol-Falena, it was always you leading the troops into battle. It was you who directed the troops when they were vastly outnumbered and it was you who always emerged victorious."

Faourish sat and thought about that. It had always seemed that he had done nothing but follow her orders, but when she put things into that perspective…

"And that's not even considering all of the places you visited and all the troops you rallied to fight against the Godwins and their supporters."

"I see your point. And I also would like to point out that you haven't turned against me yet, so I must be doing a good job."

"Very true Prince," she turned to face her guards, "Cius, Lelei? Could you step outside for a moment?"

The two agreed and left the room.

"Miakis, could you leave the room as well?"

"But why?"

"I need to talk to the prince about a very delicate matter. The less people that know about it, the better."

"Its okay Miakis, its better that you don't hear this anyways."

Seeing Miakis about to object, Faourish added, "Please?"

"…Alright."

Lucretia sat down in a chair across from the Prince at his desk. They sat in silence for a minute or so before Faourish spoke, "You already know don't you? I should have known I couldn't hide it from you."

The strategist closed her eyes in thought for a second before speaking, "Let's say that I have a reasonable suspicion. Do you wish to confirm it?"

"Not really."

"Do it anyways."

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At the baths…

(Girls Side)

"So what do you plan on doing now?" asked Lorelai.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Your not going back to…wherever you came from?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Zerase sighed, "I need to keep an eye on Faourish. Ever since Lyon died, Faourish has wanted to get away from it all and just disappear. Unfortunately, he can't do that now. He's too important."

"Why's that?"

"That will be up to him to explain."

(Guys Side)

"Hey Levi, you ok?"

Levi snapped out of his daze to see Ernst in human form, sitting across from him in the bath.

"Ernst! I was just thinking about you."

"You…were?"

"Yes I was. It's about your beast rune. I think that I might have finally found a way to remove it, or at least give you control over it."

"You have? Finally! What do I have to do?"

"Get the prince to go along with the plan. You see, during the final battle, I was present. When Lyon died, he inherited the twilight rune. But that's not all. I can't be certain, but I think he also picked up something that could help you as well."

"Don't keep me in suspense! How can he help me?"

Levi sighed, "Well, I can't be certain…so I'm going to leave the final decision up to him."

Ernst stood up and clenched his fist in front of him, "I'll go ask him right now!" With a flash, Ernst transformed into his cheetah form and raced out of the bath, scattering water everywhere.

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"So you were planning on running?"

Faourish sighed, "I was. Lyon was the only person who could tell us apart. No one would have noticed Roy had taken my place until I was long gone. But since the ex-queens knights pledged their loyalty to me, that's not really an option anymore. Not to mention…"

"Indeed. So what do you plan on doing now?"

"I…really don't know. I kinda just expected to go back to the castle, take a position on the sentate and help Lym become the official queen. But I guess I really can't do that either. It would create too much controversy between the warring factions."

"Very true prince. Now that you…

CRASH!

Faourish only had a few seconds to push Lucretia out of the way before he was tackled by a wet, panting cheetah. Seconds later Miakis ran into the room yelling.

"Ernst! What the hell are you doing?"

Ernst apparently wasn't paying attention. Quickly, he morphed into human form, speaking quickly and excitedly. Almost too fast to hear.

"Prince! Levi said that you had a cure for my beast rune! Do you? Huh?" He would have gone on if he hadn't been silenced by the Prince.

"Ernst, get off me and put on a towel or something."

As if just noticing his surroundings, Ernst sheepishly got off the Prince and grabbed a towel from the Prince's closet. It didn't stall his enthusiasm for long though.

"Well? Do you really have a cure?"

"Did Levi tell you what this cure is?"

"No. He only said it might work and that you have the power."

Faourish put his hand on his forehead and sighed in exasperation, "Of course. We have so many of those people here it couldn't stay secret for long," he turned to Ernst, "The answer to your question is maybe. I might have a way to cure it. But I'd need Levi and Jeane to help me, and I don't know if I want to reveal it to them just yet."

Lucretia, noticing a significant drop in Ernst's mood, spoke up, "Prince, you can't hide it forever. And you are using it to help someone in need."

Faourish sighed again. He'd been doing that a lot lately, "Miakis? Could you get Levi and Jeane up here for me?"

"Sure thing Prince."

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A/N: Any guesses to exactly what Faourish is hiding? Anyway, leave a review on the way out. This is my first attempt at one of these fanfics after all.


	2. 108 Destinies: Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for all the feedback! I'll try to live up to your expectations.

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Ernst paced impatiently around the room, his tail nervously twitching from side to side. For the first time in nearly 4 years he would finally be able to get rid of the beast rune once and for all.

Even thought he liked his hybrid form, it was incredibly inconvenient and sometimes downright frustrating to be locked in beast form for months at a time. One never really appreciated one's hands until they were without them.

That wasn't to say that his cheetah form was without merit. The town he originally came from was a hives nest for bandit raids. A great distance from the capitol city, the small village had to rely on their own local militia to fight off the bandits.

Shortly after acquiring the rune he was recruited into the militia at the young age of 15. Two bandit attacks later and the rumors had spread like wildfire that the 'poor defenseless village" had enslaved a powerful beast and used it to tear raiders to shreds.

In reality though, the village and militia were far from helpless, and the exaggerated rumors came from half crazed survivors from the bandit raids who had never seen a cheetah before. In the end though, the bandit raids dwindled and died off.

Having nothing to do and having no use for his beast form, Ernst set out with his childhood friend Norma to search for a cure. Then they met the prince and Levi. The rest was history.

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About an hour later, Ernst and Jeane had seated themselves in the Prince's room.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush," said the Prince finally breaking the silence, "I know you two well enough to know that you already know what I have."

"Indeed," said Levi, running a hand over his beard, "It is impossible to hide something of great power like that from a rune master such as myself."

Faourish ignored the egoism of the wizard and spoke to Jeane, "I don't know about you, but you must have an idea. You're skills are easily on par with Levi."

Jeane smiled at him in her usual seductive way, "You flatter me Prince."

"Will you people quit keeping secrets and just tell me what's going on?" Everyone turned towards Ernst.

Lucretia placed a hand on the were-cheetah's shoulder, "Patience. This is a very delicate matter."

"Levi? I originally thought that you were going to help him with this. Have you figured out a way to cure him?"

Levi bowed his head, "No I haven't. I've tried several methods of using the flowing rune with the water rune and even tried using methods theorized with the twilight rune, but I keep coming up negative."

"The side effect of the beast rune doesn't harm him physically or mentally," continued Jeane, "which makes the natural healing runes like flowing and water ineffective."

"This side-effect, or disease if you would, comes directly from the rune itself and gradually infects the body until it gets to the stage Ernst is currently at. Only a true rune would be able to "cure" him at that point."

Ernst suddenly cut in, "But you said that the Prince had a way to cure me! He doesn't own one of the true runes!"

Silence followed this short outburst.

"Does he?" he asked, suddenly uncertain.

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Stormwatch castle was a very busy place. After all, it housed over a hundred people, their pets, and their shops. There was always something going on and the corridors were usually busy.

Of course, this was of no concern to Byakuren and Genoh. Despite Genoh's slow walk, he left a wake in the crowd in which Byakuren followed behind.

Despite the camaraderie that was shared with the people of the castle, Byakuren tended to associate more with her own kind and was very good friends with the castle's resident monsters such as Genoh and the Dragon Horses. She didn't associate with many of the humans, and not many wanted to associate with her in the first place.

But Faourish was different.

The first time she had met the prince, they had been locked in combat. She had wanted to give the humans a scare so that she could have the place to herself again.

Thus she was completely unprepared for the fight that followed. Instead of running away, the human had calmly drawn out a quarter staff and fought her with great skill and energy. Caught by surprise in the first few seconds of the battle, she had taken several solid blows that turned the battle to the Princes favor. After five minutes, she had been subdued into near unconsciousness.

Looking up at the human with hate in her eyes as he brought his staff to her neck, she was shocked to see the man fold up his weapon and sheathe it behind him. Then with a mighty shove, she was back in the water.

But that wasn't the last time they had met.

Twice more, she had attacked the Prince, and twice more she had been knocked unconscious and thrown back into the water like a fish that was too small to eat. Although she had been fighting with more skill in the battles afterwards, the Prince was a very skilled fighter.

However, the fourth time she attacked, something else happened.

Faourish had been walking outside the castle after a light rainfall, making the ground treacherously slippery. Unfortunately for him, this was the day Byakuren had decided to attack again. He had always been very careful to keep the fights on land, as the creature was an excellent swimmer and could move faster in the water then he ever could.

In a moment of tactical genius, Byakuren had slammed her head into the bridge, causing the Prince to stumble and slip on the wood. With a mighty leap the sea serpent had knocked Faourish into the water.

Faourish had already drawn and locked his tri-nunchaku but it would be of little use to him in the water. Searching for his foe, he saw the serpent make a u-turn in the water and charge towards him. Positioning his staff in front of him, he braced himself for the final blow.

It never came.

Right before his eyes, the giant shell of Genoh rose from the water, cutting off the two fighters. Byakuren's attack smashed harmlessly into the rock hard shell of the ancient one. With one swift movement, Genoh had grabbed onto Faourish's wet clothes with his mouth and hauled him up on his back.

And then, the overgrown turtle spoke to her in her native language of hisses and clicks.

 _  
"Peace my friend. Why is one as ancient as you seeking a fight with this human?"_

It took a couple seconds for Byakuren to register that the turtle was speaking to her in her own language.

" _You speak my language?"_ she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

" _Indeed. One as ancient as I am learns a great many things."_ Said Genoh in his slow sedate pace, _"What are you doing here attacking the Prince?"_

"You can talk to him?" asked the Prince suddenly.

"Her," he corrected gently, "and yes I can talk to her."

" _What are these humans doing in my lake?"_ asked Byakuren, _"I have lived here most of my life in seclusion but then these humans show up and begin to drain the lake and fish out the waters."_

Genoh translated this to Faourish who was wringing out his shirt, still sitting atop the turtles back.

"I'm sorry you feel this way, but we are here out of necessity and need, not want. Until our current issues are resolved I'm afraid we have no choice but to stay here."

Byakuren hissed something under her breath.

"You really don't want to know what she just said Prince," stated Genoh.

"Hmmm. Maybe we can work something out then."

" _And what deal would that be?"_

Genoh translated what she said to Faourish.

"Simple. You help us win the war we're currently fighting and then I'll restore your lake to you. I'll even put in a word with Raftfleet to regulate their fishing around this area so that you can still eat here."

Another series of hisses and translations later, Genoh told Faourish, "Byakuren says that she does not know or trust these 'Raftfleet' people but she trusts you to keep your word. She has also said that she will help you win your war."

The Prince had kept his word. He lessened the fishing around the castle and made all of the fishing games held by Raftfleet catch and release only.

Again, though, that wasn't the last time they had met.

Several times afterwards, the Prince had come down to visit her. She was suspicious of his visits at first, but she soon learned that he held no hostile intent. He was a decent swimmer by human standards, and sometimes he would bring a string of fish to feed her.

One time he had even brought her cooked fish, a delicacy she had never tasted before.

He had even told her some of his deeper thoughts. The Prince saw her as some sort of outlet for his feelings, because she would not let slip any of his secrets, whether on accident or purpose.

 _Flashback_

"Byakuren! Are you around?" The Prince called to the still face of the water.

Several ripples answered him as the head of the snake like creature surfaced from the water. Smiling to himself he took a seat on the wooden walkway and dangled his bare feet in the water like a small child would.

"Hssssss," Byakuren slithered up next to the prince and licked his pocket. Laughing, Faourish withdrew the fish he had been keeping in there.

"And Retso was wondering why I wanted one of these," he said as he threw the fish to the sea-serpent who caught it gracefully in her mouth, devouring it in one gulp.

The two sat their silently for a few minutes, Faourish looking at the sunset while absentmindedly petting the head of Byakuren as he would a cat or dog. At first the serpent was wary of this treatment, not wanting to seem like a domesticated pet, but she found that she actually enjoyed the feeling, even going as far to develop a purr that sounded slightly like running water.

"Have you ever had love problems?" asked Faourish suddenly. Byakuren shook her head no.

"Never? You've never been in love with another male of your kind?"

At this, Byakuren's head drooped. The Prince instantly knew that he had touched on a sensitive matter. But he had to ask the question.

"Are you…the last of your kind?"

Eyes down, the sea-serpent nodded her head yes.

"I'm sorry…I didn't realize…" Before he could finish his sentence Byakuren shook her head vehemently before licking the Prince's face with her forked tongue. Her way of saying, "Don't worry about it."

The Prince sighed again before turning back to the sunset, "Why does human love have to be so complicated?"

"Hssssssss?"

"Well, it's like this. Lyon has been my childhood friend for as long as I can remember, and I'm not sure but I think I like her more than a childhood friend. But I'm not sure she sees me that way."

"Hsssssss?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," he elaborated, "What if I like her and she doesn't like me? Would we even be able to remain friends after that? And what if it turns out I really don't like her? It's all so complicated."

Byakuren wasn't really sure what to say to that. The Prince was in a funk and she couldn't really break him out of it unless Genoh was around. So she did the next best thing.

It took Faourish exactly three seconds to realize that Byakuren had repositioned her coils directly behind him. By then it was too late.

PUSH! SPLASH!

Coughing and sputtering from his impromptu dive in the water, Faourish glared at the smiling serpent who was lying on the dock.

"Oh ha ha. Very funny. I'm glad to see you're so sympathetic."

Byakuren merely smiled mischievously at him again before diving into the water. The Prince couldn't help it, and in spite of himself, began to laugh.

"Thanks for listening Byakuren," he said as the sea-serpent surfaced next to him. Byakuren nodded her head once before wrapping her tail around the Prince's waist and squeezing softly in a sea-serpent hug.

 _End Flashback_

But now things were changing. The Prince hadn't gone to see her in a week. Every time she had gone up to his door, she had been turned away by the nervous guards. She was going to find out what was going on, and this time no guards would stop her.

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"Does he?" asked Ernst again, a tinge of hopelessness hanging in his voice.

The Prince sighed. He had seen this coming a long time ago and knew there was no way to avoid it, but that didn't make it any easier. Tentatively, Faourish reached a shaking hand to his headband and, with one swift move, pulled it off completely.

The room was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant flash of light. When everyone had regained their sight, the Prince was standing in the middle of the room, the Dawn Rune glowing on his right hand, the Twilight Rune glowing on his Left, and…

The Sun Rune was shinning brilliantly on his forehead.

Ernst stared, slightly horrified and slightly in awe. The very thing that they had been fighting in this war, the thing that had essentially killed his mother and father, and the symbol of all Falena, was attached to the Princes head shinning like a small sun.

"So, you really do own it then," commented Levi idly.

"Yes he does, his destiny and future will greatly affect the land of Falena, or perhaps even the world."

Faourish sighed and smacked his forehead lightly, "You know Zerase you're really going to have to tell me how to do that someday."

"It comes with the job," she said simply, "and speaking of jobs, you're about to have a very big one on your hands."

"Great. And I suppose that you have absolutely no intention of telling me what the hell is going on until I've already figured it out or until it's too late."

"No, this time I'll spell it out for you," she said to the shock of everyone, "you are the symbol of Falena and everything it stands for. People believe in you more than your sister right now, and you have the complete support of everyone in this castle."

"Not everyone," he amended, "Some people are here just because I'm paying them."

"You still don't get it do you?" asked Zerase, slightly annoyed, "Did Muller and Whilmer every charge you for their employment in nearly all of your battles?"

"Well, no but…"

"Did Richard ever ask to be paid for his service to you?"

"He was just following orders…"

"What about Loreli and Zweig? After they had discovered the ruins they were seeking was there any reason at all for them to stay with you?"

"They needed my rune to open…"

"What about Kyle, Georg, Miakis, and Galleon? The people who would forsake their very duties to the crown they serve to help you?"

The Prince stayed silent at this. There really was no answer to that question.

"Maybe you don't realize it yet, but you have a lot of friends in high places who respect you more than they do the crown right now. You don't seem to realize that with your deeds and acts, you've gained more power than any one person in Falena."

"It's true prince," cut in Lucretia, "You've made unofficial alliances with the Island Nations, the elves, and even a faction of Armes. You've brought together every single faction in Falena from scientists and runologists, to gladiators and thieves."

"You know, I like all the ego boosting you guys are giving me, but shouldn't we be helping Ernst?"

Ernst, who had been sitting in the corner the entire time jumped up at the mention of his name.

"Ernst come over here," commanded Jeane, all traces of her flirtatious personality gone, replaced with a professional attitude.

The were-cheetah stood in front of Jeane and beside the prince, his excitement showing in the slight twitch of his tail.

"Faourish," Levi commanded, "Stand over here by Ernst."

Faourish got up from his seat and stood beside Ernst, the three runes on his body still glowing slightly.

Levi and Jeane made eye contact, "On three then," he said.

Both of them took out their staffs, "1…2…3!"

In perfect unison, both magicians traced a complicated pattern through the air, the runes attached to their staves glowing brightly. Nothing happened for a second, and then a bright sphere enclosed the Prince and the cheetah.

"We've put a null barrier around you," Jeane explained, "This way any magic that escapes your hold won't affect anyone in the castle."

"That is, if we can hold it against the power of the sun rune," amended Levi.

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic."

"I think I will take my leave now," commented Lucretia, "It is not safe for one who is not protected to be in a room full of great magic," With a polite bow, the strategist left the room."

Taking Ernst's hand that held the beast rune, the Prince began to focus the power of the Dawn and Twilight rune into the beast rune. He wanted to put off using the sun rune for as long as he could. Carefully tracing the pattern of healing on his hand, the Prince began to push the healing energy into the beast rune. Then, something began to fight back.

The dark energy was mounting an attack against the healing energy, driving it out and dispelling it. The retaliation was so quick and efficient that his concentration broke and he was thrown back against the shield.

"Gently Prince," suggested Levi as the Prince got back to his feet, "Runes naturally don't like other powers corrupting them. Try it slower this time."

Repeating the process, Faourish began again, this time letting the healing energy trickle in like a leaky faucet. But as soon as the first drop touched the dark energy, he found himself being forcefully thrown out again.

"Fascinating," commented Levi, "The power of this beast rune is a match even for the Dawn and Twilight runes! I've never seen such dispelling power in a common rune."

"That's nice," Faourish grumbled, picking himself up off the ground for the second time, "now are you going to tell me how to bet it or should I just do this until the shield breaks?"

"The only way that you're going to beat it, is by destroying the dark energy with the sun rune. Fight fire with fire Prince."

The sun bearer sighed and steeled himself for the influx of power he knew that was coming. Taking Ernst's hand again, the Prince drew the sign of dispel on the cheetahs hand. Then without further ceremony, he simultaneously slammed the power of all three runes into the dark energy.

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Byakuren hissed in annoyance as she faced Miakis outside the Prince's room, who had adamantly refused her entry. The battle had not come to arms yet, but Genoh was rather reluctant to translate some of her more 'descriptive' hisses.

Miakis sighed and relaxed her battle posture as the sea serpent turned around. She was not the only one who had asked for the prince since she started standing outside his door. Zegai had almost challenged her on the spot when she had denied him entry. Fortunately Georg had been nearby to calm the mercenary.

She didn't notice the tail that had wrapped around her foot until she had been thrown 10 feet across the room.

Quickly overcoming her surprise at being thrown, Miakis got back up with her daggers drawn, but Byakuren had already entered the room. Rushing towards the door, she was shocked to find her way blocked by Genoh.

"Genoh! Get out of my way! I need to stop her before she interrupts…"

"Patience small friend. Let Byakuren do what she wants."

"She can't just barge into a room that has a guard by it!"

Genoh sighed heavily, "The Prince was the first true friend that Byakuren ever had. She feels that the guards are trying to take him away. It is better that you do not interrupt for right now you could only make things worse."

Miakis was starting to get pissed but Genoh was standing in the doorway and trying to use her daggers on him would have been about as effective as hitting a rock.

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The power was so great the Prince nearly broke the connection out of surprise. This is what his mom felt when she destroyed Lordlake, and it was easy, much too easy, to loose himself in the power.

'NO!,' he shouted forcefully in his mind, 'I won't let this thing control me!'

Forcefully, the Prince bent the power to his will and pushed it against the darkness of the beast rune.

While the beast rune was powerful, it was like a kitten compared to the sun runes lion and was almost instantly over whelmed. Faourish felt Ernst's hand tighten around his in a vice like grip.

"Ease up Prince," shouted Levi from outside the magic circle, "You're using too much power!" Jeane and Levi were struggling to hold the circle now, and only a tenth of the sun runes full power was being used.

Faourish tried to follow the magician's orders, but recalling the power released from the sun rune was more difficult than directing it. He felt Ernst's hand shift under him into his cheetah form, his claws digging deep into his skin, making blood flow.

The pain seemed to further intensify the power the sun rune was putting out. Both people inside the circle had started to glow with a white aura, power rolling off the Prince in waves.

Then, the circle broke.

The magical backlash was incredible. Levi and Jeane threw up their most powerful personal shields in time but Ernst and the Prince had no such protection. He was picked up and thrown against the wall while Faourish rocketed towards the door…

…and was caught in the coils of Byakuren who had just entered the room. There was a moment of silence, and then the whole room went white.

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A/N: And that's a wrap!


	3. 108 Destinies: Chapter 3

A/N: I'm back. What more can I say?

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"How long has he been out?" asked Zegai, standing next to Miakis.

"Two days now." Responded the bodyguard. Like Lyon used to do, Miakis was holding vigilance by the Prince's side while he slept, only leaving to eat and use the bathroom.

Zegai closed his eyes for a minute in thought, "I think he's had enough sleep now. The bearer of the sun rune would have an excellent recharge rate," grabbing a nearby bucket, Zegai used the nearby sink to fill it with water.

"Hey wait a second! Magical energy isn't as easily recovered as regular energy!" protested Miakis, trying to block Zegai's path.

The gladiator brushed past her and went to the Prince's bedside.

SPLASH!

"Cough! Cough! What the…where am I? Why am I wet?"

Blinking a few times to adjust his vision, Faourish looked around and found himself in the healing ward, "What happened?"

"Good morning Prince, glad to see you're up."

"Sorry Prince, I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen.

"Zegai? Miakis? What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm your bodyguard silly," said Miakis cheerfully, seeing that the Prince was alright, "And I have no idea what that ogre is doing here."

Zegai ignored Miakis and tossed something towards the Prince. Reflexively, Faourish reached out and caught his folded tri-nunchaku, "Oh crap."

The ex-gladiator smirked, "I believe we have about a weeks worth of training to catch up on, and you've had a nice two day rest as well."

Groaning, the Prince willed his tired limbs into motion and rose from the bed, "Oh man, it feels like I just got hit with the twilight rune again."

"And I was with your squad when you got hit with it," responded Zegai nonchalantly, "it wasn't that bad and I was still able to take out Childrech."

"Prince, you don't have to get up yet," protested Miakis weakly.

"It's ok Miakis, he used to do this every morning, and I have been neglecting my training for the past week," reassured Faourish.

"That's the spirit," said Zegai.

As they started to walk out of the hospital Faourish called over his shoulder, "Coming Miakis? You might need to protect me from Zegai if he trounces me too badly."

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A fifteen minute walk later found them outside the castle grounds in a clearing within a small forest. Several small tree stumps gave the impression that trees had been cut down just for these two fighters. With a silent nod, Zegai and Faourish brought out their weapons and began their workout.

Miakis watched fascinated as Zegai and Faourish performed weapon katas in almost perfect symmetry. The fact that Zegai was wielding a spear and the Prince was using a staff had almost no effect on their precision. Aside from the spear being a little heavier and more dangerous, it was essentially a staff with a blade.

They started out slow, warming up their muscles, steadily going faster until their weapons were nothing more than a blur in the morning sun. Still, they were perfectly timed as to not interfere with each other or with the surroundings. Miakis could have sworn she felt air pressure coming from their attacks.

Finally, at their peak speed, they suddenly stopped, standing on one foot in perfect balance, before slowly resuming the kata. The whole spectacle seemed to last for hours but after 10 minutes, the Prince dropped to the ground for breath.

"Its good to see that you week long vacation hasn't affected your skills much," complimented Zegai as he took a drink from the water skin before tossing it to the Prince.

"Th-thank you," he managed to get out between breaths before taking a drink from the water skin Zegai tossed him, "I needed that."

"Of course you did, now are you ready for the real training?"

Rising off the ground all trace of fatigue vanished from the Prince like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Readying his staff in the attack position, Faourish prepared to face off against the master gladiator.

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"You know, you could have gone a little easier on him," said Miakis as she lugged the Prince's unconscious body over her shoulder.

"He'll never learn if I do that. He should have blocked that last strike anyways."

"I could barely see it! How on earth could he have blocked it?"

"That's why he's training."

"Just because he's training doesn't mean he has to get knocked out for it,"

"Why not? What better way to learn than experience?"

"Its true Miakis," broke in a new voice, "Ferid knocked me out plenty of times during my training."

"That's only because you kept skipping out on training to go skirt chasing in the city," retorted Miakis to the newly arrived Kyle.

"That's beside the point, anyway that's not what I'm here for. Lucretia sent me to deliver a message to the Prince."

"Well you'll have to wait because _somebody_ ," she said adding emphasis, "felt the need to beat him over the head with a training lesson."

"Yeah, Lucretia told me this might happen, so she told me to bring this," he finished procuring a new water skin. Miakis hastily set Faourish on the ground before Kyle upended the contents onto the Prince.

"Gah! What the…where's Zegai? And why do people keep throwing water on me?" Looking around, he spotted the Gladiator, "I fell for it again didn't I?"

Zegai smirked and responded, "A spear is just a staff with a blade at the end of it. It's the staff part you have to watch out for."

"Prince, I have a message for you," broke in Kyle.

"Kyle? What is it?" said the Prince getting up and dusting himself up.

"It's Byakuren and Ernst, they've woken up and something strange happened,"

"Strange?"

"She didn't say anything else, but she said she needed you to calm Byakuren down. Miakis can come too."

"Like you could stop me."

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"At ease."

"Thank you Prince," said the two guards stationed outside of his room.

Faourish, followed by Miakis and Kyle, entered his room to see Lucretia sitting on a chair with Ernst standing next to her in hybrid form.

"Alright, give me the good news first then,"

"Ernst is cured," she said simply.

"But he's still in hybrid form, I thought he wanted to become human again."

"Nah," broke in Ernst suddenly, "I like this form better than my human one, its stronger, faster, and chicks dig the tail."

"Well then, you're welcome. Now what happened to Byakuren?"

"Levi and Jeane are still trying to figure that out. Apparently she somehow inherited the Beast Rune when she walked in on our little magic experiment."

"The Beast Rune? But she's already a beast, what could that possibly do to her?"

"Well, why don't you look for yourself?" So saying Lucertia pulled the blanket off of Byakuren.

The Prince had seen some strange things in his travels, and hybrids weren't exactly uncommon to see, but a hybrid cross between a Byakuren and a human definitely topped his list.

Her human body was covered with the silver scales that adorned the serpent's body, giving her a metallic gleam. Someone had been decent enough to clothe her, but it was obvious to tell she had all of the female parts as well.

The eyes still maintained their lurid red glow and were shaped like a snakes, and her hair also had the same silver color, but a softer, less metallic shade.

"How is this possible?" said the Prince, dropping the blanket in shock, "I thought the Beast Rune transformed humans into beasts, not the other way around!"

"There are many things about runes that we do not know, but that is beside the point. Byakuren is sleeping now, thanks to a small spell. When she woke up the first time, her reaction was rather violent, that's why we want you on hand to pacify her if we can't explain the situation to her in time. I've already sent for Genoh, he should be here shortly."

Kyle looked over the Prince's shoulder, "Man Prince, I don't know how you do it, but you seem to get all the beauties in your army somehow. It must be the silver hair."

Miakis elbowed Kyle, "Keep your mind on the job for a second. We're on standby in case she goes crazy again."

"I shall take my leave of this," cut in Lucretia, "I don't think I'll be much help now. And keep it short Prince, the people are expecting a public announcement from you." Lucretia slowly walked out the door, flanked by her personal guards Cius and Lelei.

"Kyle? Could you go get Retso to fix up some food? I think she's going to be hungry after being out two days, and I haven't eaten yet either."

"Sure thing Prince."

As Kyle exited the room, Faourish gently placed a hand on the serpent-turned-human's head, calling upon the power of the Dawn Rune to dispel the magic sleep induced by Lucretia.

The red eyes, which had been half open before, snapped fully awake. With a loud angry hiss, the sea-serpent began thrashing about wildly in the bed.

"Woah! Byakuren, its me, Faourish! Calm down!" His words fell on deaf ears though as the serpent girl continued to thrash about, unfamiliar to the surroundings and new limbs.

"Miakis, hold her legs!" Nimbly, the bodyguard darted forward, dodged the kicking limbs and held them down with strength belying her size and stature, "Byakuren! Look at me!"

Holding her arms with one hand, the Prince grabbed the serpent's chin and forced her to look at him. After a few seconds, the Prince felt her muscles relax and released his hold on her. Miakis did the same.

"Hissssssss…"

"Byakuren, I don't know what's happened, but try to stay calm okay?"

Tentatively, Byakuren nodded.

"You've transformed into a human, we don't know how it happened, but its going to be a while until you get used to the changes."

"Hssssssss?"

"I'm sorry this happened to you, I'll try to fix this as fast as I can." Faourish slowly let go of her arms, still cautious of an attack.

Weakly, the sea serpent raised a hand and patted him on the shoulder as if to say everything was all right.

"Kyle?" asked the Prince as the door opened to admit Shun Min and the bodyguard, "Do me a favor and look after her until I get back. I have a public announcement I need to make."

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In a lesser place, it may have taken hours for over a hundred people to gather in one place, but in Stormwatch it took only thirty minutes for everyone to gather in the audience hall.

There was some minor chatting going through the crowd, but that died out instantly as soon as the Prince stood in front of the crowd.

Taking a deep breath as if he was about to plunge into a swimming hole, the Prince began his planned speech.

"In all honestly, my thanks to each and every one of you should have come a week ago at the conclusion of this war. None of this would have been possible if it weren't for each and every one of you. All of our factions, human and non-human alike, working together towards one goal is the true spirit of Falena!"

A round of cheers came after that statement, but quieted immediately when Faourish raised his hand.

"I'm afraid though, that I have some bad news for all of you. As many of you know, the final battle against the sun rune was fierce, and it ended up claiming the life of my personal bodyguard, and because of that, I inherited the twilight rune."

With that the Prince held up the orange rune on his left hand, its glow illuminating the whole audience chamber.

"But there was something else that I told no one. The Twilight Rune wasn't the only rune that chose me to be its bearer that day, for I now possess the sun rune as well." Bringing up one hand to his headband, the Prince tore it off to reveal the delicate pattern inscribed on his forehead.

Someone standing outside the hall might have thought a bombshell had just gone off in the audience chamber. It took several commands from the faction leaders and the Prince to restore order.

"I do not blame any of you if you wish to leave the castle now. I have tried to remove it through magic means but it appears that this rune has bonded to me as well."

"Finally, I would like all of the faction leaders to meet me in the conference room for a final debriefing. That is all, you are dismissed."

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"This new revelation has put my mind in conflict," said Talgeyl sadly as he looked down at the table, hands folded in front of him, "I thought highly of royal family until the incident with the sun rune. Over time I reasoned to myself that our real enemy was the sun rune and the Godwins who wished to use it. Now, I really don't know what to think."

"Well, if its any constilation to you, I haven't heard any voices inside my head telling me to kill my allies. I leave that kind of stuff to Nether Gate and the Godwins."

The aged semi-leader of Lordlake looked up in surprise.

"What? You expect that just because I have a new addition to my face that I'm suddenly going to start killing my friends now?"

"But Prince, the Queen couldn't even handle the power of the sun rune. What makes you think that you'll be able to handle it any better than her?"

Galleon lightly tapped his halberd on the ground making a soft sound echo throughout the stone room, "Please speak respectfully in his highnesses presence."

"Talgeyl is right to be suspicious of the prince," broke in Georg, "They have, after all, been on the receiving end of the Sun Rune's power before."

"I don't blame you either," said the Prince, "I won't try and stop you if you wish to pull your troops out of this castle, but I would like for use to still be allies."

Talgeyl stood up indignantly, "My dear Prince, I never said I didn't trust you, I merely do not trust the abomination attached to your forehead! You're our captain, the leader of our resistance, a hero in the eyes of Falena! It is merely the rune I do not trust, not you. You are one of the people that I trust the most."

"So if you trust me, then will you trust me in saying that I wish you would support the new Queen Lymselia?"

"It will be difficult for anyone in Lordlake to trust the crown again unfortunately. My people would much rather throw their support behind you."

"Me? Please explain."

"While I have no doubt that Lymselia will one day be a competent ruler, she is still just a child and is easily overshadowed by politicians wishing to remove power from her. The likely case is that a retainer will be assigned to her until she comes of age and the retainer will wish to take power for himself, or herself, as well. With the Barrows and the Godwin faction crumbling, other political parties are rushing in to fill the vacuum of power."

"Naturally, but these factions pose little threat. The territory of Stormfist is under the control of the crown and the nobles in Rainwall are disbanding from Euram Barrows as we speak."

(A/N: If you haven't figured it out yet, this story goes with Eresh as the last star of destiny)

"Forgive me for saying this, but you're wrong Prince. Stormfist is not under control of the crown, it is under YOUR control. And frankly, I'd much rather have you fill that vacuum of power rather than some other sleazy politician. Just remember that you'll always have the support of Lordlake, Sun Rune or not."

With that, Talgeyl stood up, picked up his straw hat off the table and exited the meeting room.

"Well," said the Prince airily, "That was…unexpected."

"But not unreasonable Prince," said Lucretia, sitting on his left, "You know the attitude of Lordlake towards the crown, although I can't quite respect your decision to bow out of the political system when you own all of its symbols."

"Neither do I," said Taylor sitting a couple seats down from him. He had asked the Prince if he could take notes on the meetings to give reports on the aftermath of the war. Faourish had let him without a second thought. After all, who was he to deny the right of the press?

"It's strange really," said the Prince offhandedly, "The whole time when I was fighting, I was focused solely on one goal, and that was to defeat the Godwins. Now that their faction is gone, I really don't know what to do now."

"What you need Prince," said a new voice, "is a vacation."

The Prince looked up to see the Raftfleet officials, including Logg, Lun, and Subala standing in the doorway. Silently, the five filed in and took seats around the table.

"A…vacation?"

"Exactly. From the first time you visited us to the final fight with the Lunar Moth when was the last time you actually took some time off for yourself?"

"Well there was the time I went to meet with the Island Nations representatives…that can technically be counted…"

"You went over there to fight pirates, a sea monster, and recruit four people, including two of the navy's finest, into our ranks."

"Well what about the time I…"

"You were tracked by five assassins and you indirectly started another one of our battles just as our portable catapult got developed, allowing us to wipe them out."

"There was that one time when we went incognito to…"

"The only one who was fooled by those disguises was the town drunk, and he was passed out. Not to mention that town was next on the hit list for the Godwins."

"Okay so maybe that wasn't exactly a vacation, but there was that one time," Raja gazed at him skeptically, "Okay your right. I haven't had a vacation in over a year. So what?"

"So your judgment is compromised and you may make decisions you regret. Take some time off, go visit some different lands or something, just get away from here for a while."

"Ya know? She's right an all," piped in Logg, "Ever since Ferid and Arshtat kicked the bucket an all, you really haven't really had time to relax." His comment was interrupted by Lun comically slamming her boathook on his head.

"Stop talking."

"The point is Prince," broke in Raja, "You need a break, and Raftfleet is willing to provide you a ship so you can take a couple weeks off. Then you can decide what you're going to do then."

Faourish bowed his head in thought for a bit, "I'll consider your offer. Right now I still have to meet with the Dragon Calvary, the Beavers, the Dwarves, and several other factions as well. It's going to take the better part of the day so forgive me if I can't give you an answer right away."

"Naturally Prince. Raftfleet is going to hand around in the area for another week or so, please take your time to decide." With a final nod Raja left, taking her crew with her.

"Well what do you think Lucretia? Should I take a vacation?"

Lucretia closed her eyes in thought for a minute like she always did when making an important decision. Everyone in the room was silent, waiting for her dictation. Finally she opened her eyes, "Although it may not be in out best interests I think we could use one."

The Prince nodded almost automatically agreeing with her, then something clicked in his mind, "Wait a second, what do you mean we?"

"Of course I mean we Prince. I'm still in service to you after all."

"But…the wars over. I didn't think you'd be hanging around much longer."

"Just because I am a tactician doesn't mean my skills are suited solely for the battlefield."

"Care to elaborate a bit?" asked Miakis, saving Faourish the trouble.

"Like it or not Prince, you are going to be thrown into Falena's political system eventually. Foreign countries will be requesting your hand in marriage, people will be, to put it bluntly, kissing your ass to gain your favor. You may have been taught the basics of your political system from your education at the castle but that has hardly prepared you for all the pitfalls and twists that politics encompass. The fact that we have a child on the throne, no offense to Lymsellia, does not make things easier."

"Well when you put it that way," grumbled Miakis loud enough for Lucretia to hear. She ignored her.

"You might have already heard this from some of the more snobbish nobles, but Prince's in Falena are usually nothing more than a figurehead to be married off in order to forge alliances between other countries. You, however, probably hold more power and sway over the people than Lymsellia does right now."

"Politics can be just as dangerous as the battlefield at times, and it requires a sharp mind to navigate through it, which is why I'm staying with you for the time being," lowering her voice a bit she continued, "and I really need a vacation too."

Faourish couldn't help but smirk at her last comment, "Alright then, it's settled. Once we finish disbanding the army then we join up with Raja and the crew."

"Sir!"

All of the speakers looked up to see a soldier in standard issue armor walk into the room.

"What is it?" asked the Prince suddenly feeling very tired.

"Craig, Roog, and Rahal are here to see you."

"Send them in."

Craig entered point position with Roog and Rahal to his left and right. When he stood before the Prince, he brought his fist to his chest, inclining his head slightly as a show of respect.

"Normally I wouldn't have put this meeting off for so long, but I suppose all of us needed this week to mourn," opened Craig, "I had funerals to attend to yesterday, a fifth of my men didn't make it through the war and a sixth of our dragon horses are dead as well, so I respect your privacy, unprofessional as it is."

Faourish replayed the comment a few times in his head trying to find where it lay on the insult-compliment scale.

"But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here then?"

"It's actually because of this little guy right here. Yoran! Bring him in please."

Yoran, followed by Nick, entered the room leading a Dragon Horse by his collar. He was gold colored with flecks of white scattered across his underbelly.

The Prince stood up surprised, but then slowly approached the golden beast.

"Saber?"

As if in answer to his question, the gold dragon-horse nodded its head and butted its head against the Prince's chest.

 _Flashback: Gordius (Dragon Horse Lair)_

"Well, that's another set of asses down in this war," said the Prince to no one in particular as he was cleaning off his Tri-Nunchaku. Usually when fighting humans he didn't have to clean his weapons but, well let's just say that he was getting annoyed with Nether Gate.

All around him the camp was starting to come alive with trainees and dragon horses alike. Roog had been right, the place was lively and even now people of ages ranging from 12 to 20 were lining up for morning combat practice.

"So, can we expect your support now?" asked Faourish as he heard Rahal come up behind him.

"Yes, we've already sent a messenger to Craig, our units should coordinate with yours for the reclaiming of the castle."

Faourish didn't look back at Rahal, but continued to watch the dragon horses as their trainers saddled them up.

"What's wrong with that dragon horse?" asked Faourish pointing towards a gold colored beast lying on the ground.

"Oh him?" The Prince turned around to see that Rahal's face had turned suddenly grim, "He was born lame. Not his fault but as a dragon horse he's useless."

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Well, he's to be scheduled for execution. He can't fight or carry a rider, and if he was to breed then he might…Prince?"

At the word execution, the Prince had already gotten up and began walking towards the creature. The dragon horse didn't even protest when the Prince had sat down next to him.

'His spirit is crushed,' thought the Prince, 'He already seems to know what fate awaits him simply because he was born.'

Slowly running a hand over his head, the Prince examined the dragon horse closely. He, or she, was slightly smaller than Ax, his (or her) horns barely developed. One of its legs hung limply at its side, evidence of its unnatural birth.

Slowly running a hand over its legs, the Prince was surprised to see the Dawn Rune glow of its own accord. Focusing on that thread of released power, Faourish let the magic guide him.

Rahal was about to interrupt, but was stopped by Georg, "Let him work."

For one brief moment, the Prince's body glowed entirely blue, and then the color slowly started to drain from the Prince into the dragon horse's leg. Georg could have sworn that the Prince's eyes glowed blue for a brief moment as he opened them, nearly collapsing from the strain.

"Prince, are you okay?" asked Rahal running forward and catching him before he fell backwards onto the grass.

"I'm…fine," he gasped out, "How…is…he?"

"She Prince," Rahal corrected, "And…well I don't know really."

Everyone turned their attention back towards the comatose dragon horse. Slowly, shakily at first, the child dragon horse began to rise, wobbling on the newfound strength in its leg. It began walking forward a few steps its posture becoming surer with each pace, a wave of confidence slowly overcoming its features and posture.

"I don't believe it," said Roog, awe clearly evident in his voice, "What on earth did you do to her?"

"I don't know," said the Prince seriously, "The Dawn rune was speaking to me, telling me that I had the power to heal him."

"I'm glad you did," said Rahal, "He was a beautiful dragon horse and we were putting off his execution for as long as we could, but Craig is sort of a stickler for tradition and the old fashioned rules."

The dragon horse, having figured full use of her limbs, began to pace around at a slow trot in a circle around the group. After a few minutes of this she began to look at her surroundings as if she were discovering them for the first time again.

"So what's going to happen to her now?" asked the Prince as he got to his feet.

"Well, normally we'd try to find her a rider from our trainees, but in this case…"

WHAM!

The Prince sucked in air as he got the wind knocked out of him after being tackled by the gold dragon horse. She wasn't very big, but she had considerable weight and enough momentum to knock him over. Georg nearly had his sword unsheathed before Roog grabbed his arm.

"…the only person who she would let ride her now is you."

As if to prove his point, the healed dragon horse began licking Faourish's face. The Prince laughed in spite of himself, "Woah girl, okay that's enough."

Thankfully the dragon horse stopped licking him, however she still didn't let him up.

"Roog, does this dragon horse have a name I can call her?"

"No, we never really thought she'd be around long enough to answer to one, although we usually name them after weapons."

Slowly, Faourish reached up a hand to pet the dragon horse on the head, "Then I guess your new name is going to be Saber."

Saber closed her eyes and nodded her head as if to agree with the name.

Unfortunately, there were several complications that kept him from seeing Saber again. Craig, while grateful for the healing, could not spare the resources to transfer her with the main troops. All that he took for the reclaiming of the castle was a hundred stout men who rode fast and hard for a day and a half. It was enough though.

Working in conjunction with the beavers they were able to sink the entire sea force stationed there without suffering a single casualty. After clearing the way, Raja's flagship and another archer ship were able to drive back Childrech's unit. The rest of the troops surrendered.

In the oncoming war, Saber had been forgotten amidst the battles, traveling, and Sialeeds' betrayal. But now…

 _End Flashback_

"What's she doing here?" asked the Prince, showing the first sign of happiness that day. Saber had grown in the time he had been away. Although she still wasn't big enough to ride, she had grown from waist height to chest level.

"From what the trainers tell me, she practically broke her stable trying to get out. We tried to find another rider for her, but, like Rahal said, she won't take another. Many dragon horses, including Axe, Flail, and Lance, bond for life if they think their riders are worthy."

"So…what happens now?" asked Faourish while absentmindedly stroking Saber's head.

"Now? Well obviously you need to be trained. You weapons skills are incredible so we don't need to train those, but there are various arts on horseback that you must be schooled in. For instance, a staff is not quite the ideal tool to use on a dragon horse, and archery is much more challenging when you are in motion."

"I have ridden horses before," said the Prince indignantly.

"Yes but I doubt any horse you've ridden could jump six feet or move faster in water then on land."

"Fair enough I suppose," he said grudgingly, "but aren't you returning to castle Sauronix?"

"Yes, and normally I would require someone bonded with a dragon horse to come to Sauronix to complete his training."

"You know I can't do that Craig," reminded the Prince.

"Of course you can't," he agreed, "But a dragon horse isn't a responsibility to be taken lightly. They are a symbol of Falena, much like the runes you bear."

"So what are you suggesting then?"

"Simply to assign you a personal trainer who can instruct you in the care of your dragon horse, as well as give you flute lessons."

"Personal trainer? Who were you thinking about?"

"Rahal," said Craig simply.

"My sister," broke in Rahal, "has expressed wishes to stay here. She claims that this castle has a particularly pleasing sound to it. She also said that she will help you construct your flute."

Faourish involuntarily shivered. Even though he didn't mention her name he still got the shakes whenever she was mentioned. Looking back on it, he really had no idea what possessed him to ask her to join him, but then again, he was still wondering why people like Cornelio were still sticking around.

"So," said the Prince after an awkward moment of silence, "Now that that's out of the way, what did you guys want to talk about?"

Craig scratched his chin in though, "Well, this was more of a final parting really, we just wished to say goodbye and invite you to return to castle Sauronix any time you wished."

"What about the sun rune?"

"What about it?" he asked in fake mild surprise, then slowly walked out of the room.

"It was great fighting with ya," said Roog with a wave and followed behind Craig. Nick and Yoran merely bowed and waved before following Roog out the door.

"You know," said Taylor, "While I must admit that Craig is a little old fashioned, he does have an excellent character."

Faourish could only nod in agreement and sat down in his seat. Saber curled up in a corner of the room while Rahal took an empty chair across from the Prince.

"So then, who's next?"

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A/N: Only now do I realize just how hard it is to manage 108 different characters, no matter how minor their roles. However, I hope that you enjoyed the new chapter.


	4. Blood Gulch Blues: Chapter 1

Author's Forward:

Yeah, I've got nothing for this. Another in my long series of 'Let's cross Ranma over with everything' series centered around a single amusing joke. Ranma's armor turns out to be the same color as Master Chief and the Red and Blue sides fight over whose side he's supposed to be on.

But let's be honest. What actually happened with the Red vs. Blue series is far more crazy than anything I could have thought up.

* * *

A/N: I really got to stop writing stories and start updating the ones I have, but I'll be the first to tell you that I'm a sucker for original ideas.

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When I look back on the past two years of my life in Nerima, I realize that I haven't accomplished much. Sure I may be one of the most powerful martial artists in the world right now, but I'd trade it all in a minute to just get the last 12 years of my life back.

At least, I used to feel that way.

Maybe I wasn't in the best setup but at least it was common ground.

Not buying that? Okay so maybe it was just south of hell, but at least they sold ice water.

Okay so you're not buying that either. How about this. Nerima was somewhere between the 8th and 9th level of hell, with every single super powered, magic enhanced, sumo wrestling, Jusenkyo cursed, 300 year old asshole coming to get a piece of me.

That pretty much sums it up. Oh and about the sumo thing? Don't ask. Seriously, you don't want to know, and I sure as hell don't want to tell you either.

But lets be frank, compared to the shit that's about to hit the fan now, this was all small potatoes.

There are only three people on this earth who really know the whole story of what happened to me on that 10 year training trip. The Tendo's might think they know me, having been told stories about highlights of my trip, but they really know nothing.

One of the people, of course, is me. The other, is my dad. The third though, is someone that not even Nabiki could pry out of me. That person though, always haunts a dark corner of my mind, buried underneath all the turmoil that was my life. I've always tried to forget it, but that fateful day where my life got thrown into the shitter will haunt me to the end of my days.

I'm getting ahead of myself though. In order to better understand this, we have to take a look at the so called "10 year training trip." I can't help but laugh when I think about it like that.

China is a big place, it holds a sixth of the world's population after all, but you can't really spend 10 years there without getting bored out of your skull. If you think China was the only place we went to, you'd be dead wrong. And if you think that someone like me who traveled around the world would be ignorant, you'd also be dead wrong.

God that word dead sounds like a nice relief right now.

One phone call was all it took. Three words and I found myself violently wrenched from my 8th level of hell all the way down to the 20th level which was under construction just for me.

Nabiki had answered the phone as usual, and she had to call me a few times before I realized I had a phone call. No one ever called me to talk to me. Usually if it had anything to do with me, Nabiki sorted out a business deal before I could dig myself in deeper.

I had already felt a dark aura from the phone; my hand hesitated when I reached for it. Something in my head, all my martial artists' senses from the 6th to the 12th were telling me to not pick up that receiver.

Of course, I ignored every one of them and tentatively took the phone from Nabiki.

"Hello?"

There was some light breathing on the other side, as if the person was shocked that they had finally found me. Then, the three dreadful words came.

"Buenos dias cockbite."

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A/N: That's a wrap for now. Props if you can guess which series is being crossed over this time.


	5. Blood Gulch Blues: Chapter 2

A/N: Props for those who guessed it. This is going to be the very first Ranma and Red vs. Blue crossover. By the way, in this universe all the events around the dragons' whisker never happened.

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Many people think that my fat lazy father is at fault for every little thing that happened to me on the training trip, from Jusenkyo to the Neko Ken, and they'd be right. Mostly. However, this was one problem that was purely my doing, and now I was about to pay the price.

"T-Tex?" I stuttered into the phone nervously. I could sense Nabiki watching me curiously but I didn't care, "How did you…how could you…?"

"I have my ways," she said mysteriously.

The conversation drifted off for a second, "What do you want?" I asked finally, already knowing the answer.

"You know exactly what I want. Four years ago on January 23rd. I'm here to call in my favor."

' _Curse women and their long memories,'_ I thought to myself.

FLASHBACK:

"So you're what exactly?"

"I'm part of an experimental program designed to make humans stronger through D.N.A. alteration and cybernetic enhancement. However, this process is still in its early stages so we need test subjects. Your boy seems strong enough to handle it."

Genma thought briefly about it, "Well, it's a tempting offer but…"

"We're also offering a large sum of money…"

"SOLD! I mean…I accept."

 _That was the last I saw of my pops for two long years. To my knowledge, the person who "recruited me" was from the US. When my dad tried to steal me back, we had already hopped a plane to America. My pop tried to track the weekly checks that were being sent to him, but they were all false addresses. It was a good thing I had learned a slight bit of English to get by._

"ATTENTION!"

The loud booming voice woke Ranma up instantly. Jumping out of the bed, he prepared for anything. Taking a moment to assess his surroundings he realized he had no idea where he was. There were two rows of steel bed-frames with people around his age lying on them. He was the only one standing.

Searching for the voice, he saw a man, or at least he thought it was a man, clad in teal colored armor lightly patting a stun baton. Two men wearing the same type of armor, except a darker blue, we're also wielding the stun batons. Slowly the three went down the line of beds, shocking those that were still asleep, into wakefulness.

As the armor suited people passed his bunk, one turned to stare at him. Ranma stared back defiantly. A tinted visor covered the persons face. Without missing a beat, the armor suit moved past him to wake up the next person in line, ignoring him completely.

 _That was my first look at the Mark IV Spartan armor. It was imbedded with things called nano-technology that accelerated healing, boosted physical attributes, and protection from small arms fire while remaining light and flexible. I had heard that an earlier version called the Mark III had all those benefits doubled, but weighed about two tons as well._

"Two hundred push-ups, now!"

Groaning, the group of kids began their laborious task. Even when they had finished the workout continued with the instructor having them perform sit ups, squats, and various stretching exercises. By the end of a five mile jog, people were beginning to throw up but the instructor continued on as if he didn't see. If someone collapsed, the stun batons were brought out.

By the end, only Ranma was standing.

 _If it wasn't for the fact that Genma had gotten me into that mess, I would have thanked him for the training he had put me through. Day after day we repeated the same grueling routine, people slowly getting used to it, using me as a role model to get better._

"What do you mean you don't want to use a weapon?"

"I'm a martial artist _sir,_ " Said Ranma stressing the last word, "It's against my nature."

The man in the blue armor looked like he was about to deliver a reprimand when a new man entered the room, "its okay gents, let him be. The boy probably can't lift one anyway."

Ranma looked at the new person who had just entered the room only to see a suit of white armor.

"I suppose we can always use him as a meat shield then," continued the white armor, "If he's too scared of guns then let him die."

"I ain't afraid of nuthin," mumbled Ranma, eyes looking towards the floor.

"What was that?"

"I ain't afraid of nuthin," said Ranma a little louder.

"If you are afraid," continued the white armor as if he hadn't heard, "its okay to admit it." He spoke as if he was talking to a four year old.

"I said I ain't afraid of nuthin you deaf idiot!"

White armor didn't even look surprised by the outburst, "Then show me," he said tossing a standard issue pistol towards him.

Ranma took the pistol, his eyes murderous. Without taking his eyes off of the white armor Ranma pointed the pistol downrange and shot a round clean through the target's head.

 _Even though I never saw his face behind his visor, I could tell he was smiling. I was played for a fool and had my own pride used against me. My perfect eyesight and steady hands made me a near perfect shot._

 _Then, they gave us the injections. It wasn't really noticeable at first but the effects were there; simple little things like catching something thrown at you with only a seconds notice, or recovering your balance more quickly when you loose your footing. I wasn't awake when they gave the injections, otherwise I probably would have protested._

 _Over time we were given our armor. Some people got black, others got white. There didn't seem to be a system to it._

 _Then, they began the next stage of our training. Implanting AI's into our armor._

"You may feel a slight sting," said one of the technicians in a white lab coat, "Try not to move too much."

Ranma lay perfectly still as a wire was connected to his helmet. After a few seconds a huge jolt of electricity flowed through his brain, shocking his whole body. However, nothing came from his mouth which was now covered by a tinted visor.

"Download complete," said the technician, "How do you feel?"

"Fine," he said simply. It's not like they would have done anything if he told them he felt like shit.

"Your system should configure automatically," continued the technician, "Give it a couple days. And if you hear voices in you head, you're not going crazy."

 _It was also around this time that my group began to hold contests with each other. Fighting, shooting, combat based stuff mostly. It was supposed to be harmless and good for training, but the AI's had a different agenda. That was when I got indebted to Tex, January 23rd by her reckoning._

BOOM!

Ranma cursed as an explosion went off 10 feet in front of him. Emptying his clip into the smoke he ducked around a corner and reloaded.

"Harmless my ass," he said to himself.

Once again he had been challenged to an exhibition match. Being the best in his group, everyone (or rather all of the AI's) was trying to take the opportunity to knock him off his high horse. The matches had started out harmless at first, but then his opponents began sneaking live weapons into the arenas. It didn't make for an easy fight when all he was equipped with was flash grenades and an assault rifle with dulled bullets.

He was pretty sure his opponent was using AP rounds but he wasn't willing to risk his body to find out. Then he heard voices.

"Go around on the left, I'll pin him down here."

"He's hiding behind that rock."

Ranma cursed to himself again. Apparently he wasn't alone either. Taking a deep breath, Ranma jumped out from behind his cover, taking the guy flanking him by surprise. Putting on an extra burst of speed Ranma dodged the volley and grabbed the guy around the neck.

Just in time too, as a shower of bullets hit his human shield. Ranma returned fire, forcing the others to take cover. Thinking quickly Ranma took the gun from the now unconscious soldier and ran behind the dividing wall, trading fire with the remaining people.

"What the hell? Did they invite the whole group here?" Technically these were supposed to be fair matches but it had gotten to the point where it was beyond the ability of the stationed guards to control them.

Ranma was in a bad position too. The only effective weapon he had was the half emptied pistol he had stolen from the wounded soldier.

"Buenos dias cockbite."

Ranma looked up to see a familiar tinted visor and black armor. By the voice, he could tell that the person was Tex. And she was armed to kill. Switching her pistol to her left hand, she pulled a grenade out of her storage.

"Need some help?" Ranma nodded, as if it took all his willpower, "Pull it." She said offering him the grenade.

Hesitantly Ranma reached up and took the pin out of the grenade. Like lightning she chucked the frag over the barrier into the enemy nest. There was an explosion and then they went into action, disabling, knocking out, and injuring the people on the other team. When the smoke cleared 6 people lay on the ground.

 _It should be noted at this point that I had met Tex before. When they were assigning out codenames, Tex ended up with Nevada. For some reason I can't fathom, I got the codename Texas. I was 80 sure she hated my guts at that moment. However the fact remains that she saved my life. Right after the fight was over, she simply said, "you owe me one," and walked off._

 _Tex, while not as well versed as me in the combat arts, was a demon with a weapon. She had gotten almost as many challenges as me, and had stayed my close equal throughout the two years I spent there, even going as far as punching out a guys eye straight through his visor. She never actually challenged me directly, but we did compete from time to time._

 _Then, everything went to hell. You remember those AI's that they implanted with? They were supposed to make us stronger, faster, or in Tex's case, just plain meaner. The program worked fine for a while, but then the AI's started taking over their hosts' minds, causing most to go crazy. They tried deleting the AI but many resisted and escaped the facility, including Tex._

 _To this day I consider myself fortunate that my AI never activated._

 _Two days after the AI Omega had escaped with Tex, killing over half the guards, I made my escape as well. It's not like anyone was left to stop me. Unfortunately, when I got outside the facility, I had two major problems. I may have been able to pick up English during my training but I had no idea where I was or where I should go._

 _As for what I did, well, that's a completely different story._

END FLASHBACK

I cursed silently to myself as the memories came back to me, bombarding me with a past that I would have rather forgotten. Even Genma agreed that he had made a mistake in sending me there (and he was still trying to push the engagement).

"I can't talk on this phone Tex. The line is tapped."

Upstairs in her room, Nabiki cursed.

"That's okay," responded Tex, "I'm going to give you some coordinates. Get to them. I'll call you back." Tex read off a series of numbers which I quickly committed to memory. I knew Nabiki had probably copied them down too, but she wouldn't be able to find the location unless she knew military talk.

Slowly, I hung up the phone. Now it was time for the hard part.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, I quickly dodged into the dining room and hid under the table. Right on cue, Nabiki walked in, looking for me. Taking a glance around she must have determined that I wasn't there and left.

Not missing a beat I rolled out from under the table and ran up the stairs to the guest room. Grabbing my old backpack, I jumped out the window, over the surrounding wall, and onto the street outside.

"Going somewhere?"

I flinched and turned to face Genma.

"Pops?"

"It was them wasn't it?"

Sighing, I dropped by stance and leaned against the wall like he was doing, "How can you tell?"

"You're in soldier mode," he said as if talking about the weather, "The only time you're like that is when you're reminded of _that_ place."

Was I really that easy to read?

"So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Me? Nothing whatsoever," he started laughing, "If you want to go off and get shot that's your problem, not mine."

WHACK!

I withdrew my fist from his face, "You're such a kind and loving father you know that?"

Picking himself up off the ground, Genma shook his head a bit, "I try my best son."

"If that was your best I'd hate to see the poor bastard that lived through your worst."

"The point is," said my dad ignoring my earlier comment, "You need to clean up the mess you made here before you go make another one."

"Well why don't I just pull out my handy dandy to-do list huh?" I pulled out a list from my pocket, "Number one, beat Happosai for the title of grandmaster. Number two, beat Cologne to get the amazons off my case. Number three, gracefully break off the other two engagements you hooked me up with without loosing honor and preferably without losing blood. Number four, get a cure to my curse. Number five, kill Tatewaki and Kodachi so they stop following me. Number six, destroy all of the photos Nabiki took of me and destroy all of her cameras. Finally, number seven, kill you and leave your body for the cats so you never haunt my steps again and recreate the situation for me." I crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it over my shoulder, "I might even do that last step first."

Genma had several sweatdrops on his head, "You know, on the other hand, why don't you just do what you need to do. I'll cover for you."

Picking up my discarded backpack I started walking off, "Its not like they're going to find me," turning around I looked one last time at my dad, "but thanks anyways old man."

I was about to start walking again when something made me stop, "You know? I just had a strange feeling that I'm never going to see this place again."

"And that's a bad thing?" asked Genma curiously.

"Oh I didn't mean weird bad."

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I got to the coordinates Tex sent me with two minutes to spare, a back alleyway with a rusty telephone booth. Softly I counted down the seconds until Tex was set to call. I had just hit two when the phone started ringing.

Going back into soldier mode, I picked up the receiver, "Okay, what is it?"

"Do you remember Omega from the training facility?"

"Yeah. He was the AI you were paired with."

"You may not have known this considering yours never activated," continued Tex, "But did you know that these computer programs could jump from person to person by using the radios?"

My heart skipped a beat. AI's that could jump from person to person? Everyone in the military had the same protocol armor and radio, so what was to stop a crazy AI from jumping into someone who was in charge of a nuclear missile silo? And considering Omega…

"Let me guess, Omega found out how to do this right?"

"Yep."

"And he wants to destroy the universe too I bet."

"You got it."

"And you want to kill him right?"

"Right."

"So what's stopping you?"

"A lot of things. Have you heard of the two new armies that have been fighting each other recently?"

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An hour later I hung up the phone. Grabbing the phonebook I looked between the S and T section and found the plane ticket hidden there. It was absolutely astounding how organized she was. She had left me a trail of objectives for me to follow so she could call in her favor at any time.

She had even known where I had hidden my armor.

I guess I should be pleased that she thought of me as important enough to keep tabs on, but it was incredibly annoying how unprepared I was for it. Story of my life huh?

I pocketed the ticket and extended my senses around me, searching for anything that would interfere with my mission. Finding none, I quickly went back to roof hopping. My destination was a good ten miles off so I had time to ponder the situation.

The major question I had on my mind was how did Tex find me? After I had gotten back from America with my dad we had traveled all over China and Japan, going into places that not even experienced explorers would go.

These questions kept repeating themselves in my mind, going nowhere until I sensed a familiar presence. Shampoo was on her bike, making deliveries as usual. However, there was something about this that seemed…off. Her eyes were searching for something and I could feel her ki prodding the area. I didn't need to be Einstein to know who she was looking for. Quickly I dampened my presence as much as I could and continued on, but Shampoo continued to follow me.

That's when I noticed two more familiar presences, Ryoga and Mousse had shown up as well. Doing some clever dodging now, I ducked into an alleyway I knew to be a dead end and went through a side door into an abandoned warehouse. Running towards the back exit, I barely had time to duck under cover as one of the factories walls exploded into a cloud of dust admitting Ryoga.

"Curse you Ranma! Where the hell are you?"

Curiously I watched as the lost boy took out an electronic device and stared at it intently. Then I watched shocked as he looked straight towards my hiding spot.

Thinking quickly I employed the umisenken and snuck out the hole he had just made. Everything made sense now; I was stupid not to have seen it before. Everyone who was constantly finding me, never getting a moments peace, and always being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, if my theory was correct, that was all about to change.

Taking a slight half-mile detour, I ducked into a clothes store and grabbed a couple pairs of clothes that looked like they would fit and hurried into the dressing room. Once I was there I got completely undressed and changed into my new clothes. Not exactly the most color coordinated but they would do.

Bunching up my old clothes in my hands, I drew in my energy and incinerated them with a focused ball of ki. A loud discharge of electricity confirmed my suspicions; I had been bugged, numerous times by the sound of it. I only wore about three different sets of clothes so it wouldn't have been that hard either.

As an afterthought, I also checked my backpack. Removing all of the stuff carefully, I inspected all the objects that I had carried with me for years. My family tanto, a very old photograph of my family, the engagement ring that was promised to Akane, another picture with the whole NWC at the beach, and all the weights I carried around in my backpack.

Strange how 17 whole years of my life could fit into this bag.

Beginning to put the objects back in now, I froze as I noticed a bulge in the bottom of my sack. Cautiously I reached down and felt it. My eyes widened as I recognized the familiar shape. Reaching into the hidden pouch, I pulled out my old 45, with some special modifications.

"What the…I thought I left this at Foundation."

Turning the gun over in my hands I noticed a tiny message scrawled on the side of the gun. It read, "Try not to loose this," and Tex's real name was scrawled at the bottom.

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Nabiki blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. All of the tracers that she had placed on Ranma had suddenly disappeared. And if he had caught on to the tracers…oh shit.

Ryoga growled and flicked the side of his tracer expectantly hoping that the blip known as Ranma would reaper. If it didn't though…

"Damn you Nabiki! I paid nearly 40,000 yen for this!"

Similar stories were happening all of Nerima.

Shampoo growled and shook her tracker, "Stupid mercenary girl cheat Shampoo!"

"Mine eyes doth deceive me," said Kuno, "But mine nemeses has vanished!"

"Konatsu! We're going to pay a visit to our Tendo friend."

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I felt incredibly out of place as I walked through the high security bank. Everyone there was dressed formally and here I was wearing a blue t-shirt and a pair of jeans, the first two items I had grabbed off the clothes rack.

"Can I help you sir?"

I turned around and faced one of the black ties wandering around the bank, "Yeah, I'd like to access my storage vault please."

In response the suited man produced a fingerprint reader. I placed my thumb on it and after a few seconds there was a beep of recognition, "Right this way sir."

I was lead through a series of hallways and dropped off at my vault. Imputing my 10 digit combination, I looked upon my armor for the first time in nearly 3 years.

From what Tex had told me, I was unofficially recruited into a place called the Blue Army, being trained to fight against another army called the Red Army. Very creative names I know. However, despite this, my armor wasn't the traditional rookie blue but actually a shade of green. To this day I don't know why.

Undoing my pigtail, I produced a pair of scissors that I had borrowed from the clothes store. Using the visor of my armor as an impromptu mirror, I carefully cut some of my hair so my head would fit into the helmet. The first thing they did at basic was shave our heads so we could readily slip on gas masks and helmets like the one I was about to put on.

Piece by piece I started placing the pieces of heavy metal on my body, letting the once familiar weight settle on my shoulders once again. While the weight may have slowed me down a bit, I was going against firearms and this was the best protection available.

Finally, I set the helmet on my head and activated my visor, bringing up the HUD showing how much energy the shields had left. Even though my armor had been abandoned for nearly two years the shields around them were still working adequately.

Reaching into my vault I grabbed my standard issue battle rifle and attached it to my back. Reaching into my bag I grabbed the modified pistol Tex had planted with a tracking device. Two minutes later and I had transformed into soldier Ranma. Tossing my backpack into the safe I slammed it close, a bit too hard in fact. I had forgotten the strength modifiers my suit provided.

Now the two-million dollar question was how I was going to get out without…

"Is everything okay in here si…" the guard's sentence cut off abruptly as he noticed me standing in the room. Slowly his eyes traveled down my suit until he saw the pistol in my hand.

"SOUND THE ALARM! THERE'S A BANK ROBBER IN HERE!" Faster than my eye could track he sped out of the vault. Mere seconds later a loud blaring alarm sounded throughout the bank.

I almost felt like shooting the guy.

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A/N: I hope it was worth the wait.


	6. Blood Gulch Blues: Chapter 3

A/N: Chances are I have a mob somewhere with my name on it, but I encourage you to read the chapter first, then kill me. If you want to hear my excuses, then feel free to indulge in the A/N below.

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"Drop your weapon and come out with your hands up!"

I cursed to myself as I hid behind the wall next to my safe. Being a maximum security bank (on the outskirts of Nerima), the police around here responded very quickly, and it didn't take long for a whole armored squadron to camp right outside the door.

"I repeat! Drop your weapon and come out with your hands up!"

Without moving, I considered my options. I could probably break out of the vault with some work, but these walls were reinforced steel, designed to handle Neriman type punishment. It was doubtful that even the breaking point technique would be able to do much to them.

On the other hand I could…

"This is your last warning! Come out with your hands in the air!"

God damn that guy was annoying, if I wasn't listening the first time, what made him think that I'd listen to him…

"We will open fire. Come out with your-" **BLAM!**

I smirked and ducked back into hiding as I heard the officers cursing and shouting. The person who'd been shouting was now clutching a broken piece of what used to be his megaphone.

If it actually came down to a firefight, I wasn't too worried. While the cops were well trained, my superior equipment and reflexes would probably see me through this unscratched.

On the other hand, I wasn't exactly ready to gun down several people just to get out of a bank. I'm not above maiming in the name of the greater good, (the greater good being my personal safety most of the time) but I didn't do it callously…unless I was beating up my dad. Then again, any time my dad got beat up was for the greater good.

"STAND DOWN NOW!"

My eyes widened in surprise as I heard a voice that I hadn't heard in three years. Cautiously I peaked around the corner and spotted the telltale white armor of agent Washington, an acquaintance I'd known from basic.

"Agent Texas, you can come out now."

I stepped out hesitantly, pistol ready to be brought into play at a moments notice. Agent Washington wasn't among my numerous lists of enemies but the fact that he held authority over these officers probably meant he was with some sort of corporation or another that I didn't want to deal with.

Washington was in full body armor, same as me. His style was much like my trainer Wyoming's white armor except a darker shade and some gold highlights where the joints were.

The freelancer gave me a short nod before turning to the assembled squadron, "I want you all out of here, now. Any word of this incident gets out and I will personally see those involved manning radar towers in Alaska. Move!"

I blinked, and the hallway was clear except for a janitor sweeping up the pieces of the shattered megaphone.

"Agent Texas, good to see you're still alive."

I would have raised an eyebrow but the effect would have been lost with the tinted visor in place. "How did you know I was here?"

"Information from our mutual acquaintance," he provided. Gesturing with his hand, I fell into step beside him. "You're not the only one she's been keeping tabs on. Although I can't figure out how she found you when all the resources of the largest military division in the world stopped trying to tail you after six months."

I rolled my shoulders back, loosening the joints on the armor. "Disappearing is easy. Just don't have any contact with the civilized world for the better part of four years and people tend to forget about you."

"The company has a long memory," cautioned Washington. "And they put a bit too much money into this project to back out, no matter how bad things get."

We began walking up a flight of stairs. A habit we had gotten into after finding out the armor we wore tended to overload most elevators.

"How bad have things gotten?" I inquired.

"Rouge AI's running around causing havoc, freelancers being bought up left and right, repeated reports of mentally stable soldiers going rouge, and more shady cover-ups than a canvas factory. So, about normal."

I sighed, mentally imagining the work ahead. "So about the usual huh?"

He nodded.

"Where are we going anyways?"

"Tex dropped me a line and 'requested' that I secure transportation for you. I pulled some strings and acquired a longsword. Nothing fancy but it will get you to where you need to go." From his side pouch, he produced a ring of electronic keys. "Just try to bring it back in one piece."

I took the keys and put them in my currently empty grenade pouch. "No promises. You know my track record."

Washington was silent for a moment. "Do you think you could make an exception just this once?"

"And break my perfect streak?" I snorted. "Just bill me for it."

Walking up the final flight of stairs, we opened the door to the roof to see the docked longsword fighter that Washington had acquired. It looked to be military stock, a gunmetal gray-ish color. The shape was reminiscent of the stealth bombers but had had obvious modifications to make it space-worthy. I walked up the ramp to the cockpit and watched as the ramp slowly raised.

"Wait a sec, you mean to tell me they actually paid you?" shouted Washington before I was obscured from view.

"It's been six years," I shouted back. "I've got to have some back pay coming." His expletives were blocked out by the ramp finishing its closing procedure.

* * *

Imagine for a second if you will, a plane ride. Got that? Good. Now imagine, a plane ride with no in-flight movie available. Or company. Or peanuts. Now, replace those semi-comfortable seats in third class with hard plastic and no headrest. Now imagine a vast void of silence.

Are you getting the picture yet? If you haven't, allow me to spell it out for you. Space travel sucks. Especially when you're on your own. Sure, space may be entertaining for a while, but believe me when I say the novelty of that wears off quite quickly after ten solid hours of nothing to do. The ship had a programmed destination and was heading there via autopilot so driving wasn't necessary, and the frantic pace of the day had left me pretty much unable to sleep for the moment.

I checked the estimated time of arrival once again. Eight hours left. Briefly I considered raiding the food stores, but the thought of military provisions made my stomach turn. Even so, they weren't nearly as bad as Akane's cooking. Then again, I could mix salt, sugar, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, ketchup, salami, rat poison, Tylenol, wine, and beef then boil it in grease and alcohol and still be leagues away from Akane's level of bad cooking.

I was getting sidetracked again. Although there really wasn't much to do in the great empty void of space other than think.

"Suppose I could check out my armor," I said aloud. I reached for the back of my head to undo the clasps to my helmet. Not quite as easy as it looks considering the heavy armor placed on my hands and the fine motor control skills needed to undo the damn thing.

"DING! Instillation complete."

My hand froze, halfway to my head. What the hell was that? Words began scrolling down my visor, too fast to make any sense of them. Just when I was about to tear the helmet from my head, the text disappeared and was replaced with a single line.

'Finalizing. Caution: Do not remove helmet.'

"Huh? Why?"

As if in answer to my question, the text changed.

'Integration in progress. Removing helmet may cause permanent neural scarring or brain damage.'

I let me hand fall to my side before another question popped into my head. "Wait, what exactly are you integrating?" The text changed again.

'Brace yourself.'

"For what? What the hell is going-" SCHINK!

Want to know what I'm feeling right now? Take a pen and jab it into the back of your skull. Now, with your other hand, grab a tuft of hair and yank. Needless to say, I was floored. All my senses were on fire and a loud ringing sound was reverberating through my ears. It felt like hours but must have only been about two minutes. Text was rolling across my visor again.

'Integration complete. Greetings Ranma Saotome.'

"What the- what the hell?"

'Configuring artificial voice. Standby...'

"Ah, that's much better."

I tapped the side of my helmet worriedly. The voice felt like it had come straight from my head. "I believe this is the part where I'm supposed to ask if I'm crazy and hearing voices in my head," I said aloud.

"Half right," said the female voice from within my head again. "Then again, I don't have access to your psyche records, so I can't confirm if you're crazy or not."

"Says the talking voice in my head," he said sarcastically. "Seriously though, what the hell are you?"

"Who knows?" said the voice smugly. "Maybe I am just the voice in the back of your head."

I smacked the side of my helmet.

"Alright, take it easy," the female voice chided gently. "My classification is C0R74N4, code name Cortana. I am a fully functional multi-purpose, state-of-the-art-"

"Wait!" I shouted suddenly. "Do not tell me that you're an AI."

There was silence for a second. "Alright then, I won't tell you."

"Son of a bitch. Tex wants me to go hunt down a rouge AI and now I have one in my freaking skull. Just great. Oh she's gonna love this one. How the hell did you get installed in this armor anyways?"

"This platform was uploaded to your helmet approximately six years ago."

I guess that experiment wasn't a failure after all. "If that's so, why are you only activating now?"

There was a moment of silence. "No data available."

"Why am I not surprised?" I sighed, not getting an answer.

"Incoming message," said the AI suddenly.

I blinked. "Huh? From who?"

"Buenos dias cockbite."

Goddammit.

"If I timed this right, you've probably met your on-board guest by now. If not, then make sure to keep your helmet on unless you want to be mentally scarred for life."

Gee, thanks for the heads up.

"You're probably wondering why I'd want you carrying an AI while I'm hunting one, but I've told you before that Omega can jump through communication lines, and when he integrates himself with your system, it's damn near impossible to get him out. However, if you already have an AI in your system, then it can stop another from gaining access."

'And what stops the one inside me from taking control huh?' I thought savagely.

"I suppose you're probably thinking 'What stops my AI from taking over' right?"

Actually at the moment I was trying to think of the most painful death I could give her, but I suppose it was close enough.

"This one was specially built, using old data from a special UNSC tried, true, and trusted AI that was used constantly during the covenant wars. Aside from the classified memory banks of the first, it's a perfect copy."

Lovely.

"Oh, and it's permanently hardwired into your brain. I'll let it explain. See ya soon!" The message cut off.

I could feel the AI waiting patiently in my brain as I conjured up every single dirty word that I learned in the training with my old man. What in the hell was she thinking? We couldn't even get the AI's to behave well when we installed them as software.

"Are you finished?" asked the AI suddenly, interrupting my thoughts and expletives.

"No," I replied bitterly. "I'm only about halfway down the list."

"Well then, let me know when you're ready to stop feeling sorry for yourself so we can establish our working relationship, alright?"

"Well gee, you sound about as happy with this as I do."

"Less so actually," she said quite frankly. "My last memories were ones of working with Master Chief. Sorry if I don't think you stack up."

"This coming from a copy of an AI who had worked with Master Chief."

I could feel the eye roll on that one. "Oh I can tell this is going to be _lots_ of fun."

"Yeah, it'll be fun once I find out where the mute button is."

"As if having voices inside your head would be anything new to you."

"Well I suppose you'll have company then, Ms. Annoying voice in my head."

"Oh well aren't you mature Mr. I narrate everything I do."

I didn't really know where this conversation was going. Hell, I was just exchanging vibes with her to pass the gruelingly long space flight. At least this way-

"See? You're doing it again."

The hell?

"You're narrating to yourself. Pretty loudly too."

"You know what? Unless you've come built with an in-flight movie, then shut up and deal with it. It's my thing, okay?"

"Whatever."

Anyways, I didn't really know where this banter was going. Mostly I was just doing it to pass the time. Military standard meant zero in the way of comfortability and entertainment.

"Well I'm sorry the UNSC can't bend over backwards to provide you with leather seats and an on-board television. Perhaps you should be thankful that you're even getting an in flight meal."

"Do you come with an instruction manual? Because the only way I'll be thankful for anything at this point is when I learn how to turn your volume off."

"I have the instruction manual downloaded to my core. If you ask nicely, I might show it to you."

Internally, I debated the merits of my pride versus my peace of mind. Although, being a Saotome pretty much made that decision for me.

"Meh. Easier just to ignore you." For some reason, I could feel Cortana smirk at that remark. "Do you come with an alarm function?"

The AI fell silent for a moment. "You're asking a free-thought highly advanced artificial intelligence capable of bypassing almost any security system in the galaxy whether or not she has an alarm function?"

Ooh. Looks like I'd found a button to push. "I'm not hearing a yes."

"Did you know that with my level of processing power, I could send a neural shock to your brain that can leave you a drooling mess for up to twelve hours?"

"...You're real cute you know that? Just wake me up when something interesting happens." I didn't wait for her reply, merely closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

"Wow, are you really engaged to three different girls?"

Tried being the key word.

"Get out of my head."

"Oh, and what am I supposed to do for seven hours, listen to you snore?"

I groaned. "Don't you have a hibernate function or something? Sleep mode? Standby?"

"What do I look like to you, Windows? Don't insult my intelligence." Odd, she actually seemed offended by that. Maybe she was an Apple product.

"Fine. Whatever. Dig around all you want. Just don't blame me if you get traumatized."

The AI scoffed. "I have simulated emotions muscle-man. It's impossible for me to get traumatized."

Just to be petty, I sent her an image of Happosai and Cologne making out in swimsuits.

"Please, I've seen worse on You-tube."

I brought up my memories of "two girls one cup."

"Okay, that was pretty bad, but nothing you can't find on 4-chan."

I conjured up my memories of a fanfic called Artemis' Lover.

"Okay okay I get it! Damn you have a sick mind! We're you _born_ in a gutter?"

"No, just brought up in the military. Don't say I didn't warn you."

I heard her sigh. Man, those simulated emotions were realistic. "Fine. I'll wake you up in seven hours. Try to keep your dreams clean okay?"

"No promises," I retorted easily. Pressing a couple of buttons on the side of my visor, I changed the tint to a full black, blocking out the artificial light on the ship. Making myself as comfortable as I could, I let my mind wander. Cortana didn't seem as bad as the other AI's. At the very least she hadn't shown the incredibly violent tendencies that the ones like Omega had. Then again, this was probably how all the machine revolutions started in those Sci-Fi films. Everything starts out innocently enough, then someone flips the wrong switch and then BOOM! Everyone's human batteries. Maybe I wasn't showing enough caution.

"Daisy, daisy, give me your answer true..."

"Cortana, shut up."

* * *

"RANMA WAKE UP! THE SHIP'S UNDER ATTACK!"

I jerked to wakefulness instantly, my eyes darting to the heat scanners used to track ships against the absolute zero of space. The scanner was empty.

"What the hell, how could they-" My mind suddenly caught up with my adrenaline. "Cortana, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Waking you up sir," she replied a little too innocently.

"...That wasn't funny."

"You're right sir, it was hilarious. Too bad we don't have a camera on board."

God damn I needed to punch something. "How long 'til we get to Blood Gulch?"

"About five minutes. You requested that I wake you up when we got close."

So of course she took the 'request' in the loosest sense of the word. Stupid computers.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Let's just start the landing procedures."

* * *

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"No. I never ever wonder why we're here. Semper fi bitch."

 **CRASH!**

The two soldiers were speechless as a longsword fighter crashed into the ground, right in front of them, kicking up a huge wall of dirt and rocks before coming to rest right in front of their base. There was a long moment of silence.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why this shit keeps happening?"

"All the damn time."

* * *

A/N: Ugh. Where to begin. Well, honestly, I don't have much to say. Actually, that's not right. I have a little too much to say, and if I wanted to say it all, then I'd probably be in violation of fanfiction dot net rules for turning author's notes into a chapter. For those of you who are curious as to what I've been doing during my incredibly long absence, then please check out my profile. There you can find a summary of my stories, their update status, and so on. If anyone feels the need to flame me for being gone for so long, then I'll gladly hear you out via review or PM.


	7. Cat's Paw: Chapter 1

Author's Forward: Eight years ago and it still feels like forever since I made this story. The last in my series of, 'Let's cross Ranma over with everything.' Frankly, I still might not have learned my lesson considering what I'm doing now but for those still curious, let's see if I can outline what was supposed to happen.

So, Cat's Paw was obviously a crossover with Ranma ½ and Let's Nyan Nyan. A cute AO rated visual novel that I enjoyed at the time and still am somewhat fond of. I had a bit of a different approach in mind for the actual story. Instead of using the Nyan Nyan cast, I pull in 'original characters' from other 'cannon' worlds to this place Ranma was inhabiting, cause a lot of harem chaos, and then make something of this strange phenomenon that was causing all of these displacements to begin with, culminating in a fight against some evil entity. At the end, Ranma would have had to make a choice of who he loved and wanted to stay with...or go for the harem ending.

* * *

A/N: I know I know. Just... give it a chance. Have I ever let you down before? Wait, hold on. Don't answer that. Just read it.

* * *

I don't think the old man ever realized just how scarring the Neko Ken really was to me. From what little I remember of my life back home, there had always been this white and gold stripped cat that was with me wherever I went. Every single one of my memories of that time seemed to have that cat in there, sometimes in the background, other times sitting on my lap for attention, ordering me to feed her (cats never asked after all) and so on. I don't remember much, but I do remember loving that cat to death.

And then my old man came up with the great idea of giving me the Neko Ken training. It did more than just mentally scar me. It seemed to rip all the childhood memories I'd had from my mind in order to protect my psych. I couldn't even try to remember them without intense pain. I couldn't leven ook at a cat without remembering the pit.

I couldn't remember my one childhood friend and bothersome pet.

At the age of eight, I abandoned my father, before he could strip away any more of my memories. One night, after he'd spent a long night at the bar, I raided his backpack, taking everything of value. The technique scrolls he'd had, the money he'd stolen, the route he'd planned out for our training trip, and even his lesson plans. And then I ran, using all the techniques the old man had taught me on how to cover my tracks and hide my presence. Genma had always operated under the fact that I was just a young kid with nowhere to go and wouldn't think of running away from him. As such, my escape had caught him completely flatfooted.

In all honestly, I was lucky. More than I care to admit. Over the course of the two years, I used all that I knew to survive off the wild, using things he'd taught me and others that I learned from his manuals. I practiced martial arts vigorously, it was the one thing I was truly good at and the only thing that was helping me to survive. I must have come close to death about four times. A pack of starving wolves, a band of thieves, a wild tiger, and a treacherous waterfall were just a few of the things that nearly killed me.

It truly was one of those man versus nature things, with me against the wilds of Japan, only descending into civilization when I couldn't find food. I made sure never to stay in one place for too long. I didn't want any word of my presence leaking out and somehow making its way back to my father, nor did I want to deal with the authorities who would be law-bound to contact my father if they could.

And then, everything changed.

* * *

It happened one night while I was traveling through a small shopping district during the evening hours, looking for a place to steal a little food from. It had been slim pickings for a while now and I knew I was going to have to relocate soon. I had been a bit reluctant to leave though, since my current home was a rather comfortable cave, abandoned by its previous animal occupant.

As I was hopping from roof to roof, keeping my nose sharp for any whiffs of available food, I heard a scream, which was quickly muffled. The sounds of a struggle were reaching my ears now as I unconsciously made my way towards the noise.

Few of the old man's lessons had stayed with me over my years-long trek through the wilds, but the most prominent one always seemed to stay, no matter how much I wanted to forget the old man himself.

"A martial artists' duty is to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

It was written at the top of every scroll he had and repeated in my head like a mantra as I watched a girl, maybe eight or nine years old being accosted by two figures in long coats. Their intent was clear and my anger was boiling. Silently, I leaped from the roof, aiming a kick at the man who was watching his partner covering the girl's mouth.

I hit him at terminal velocity, sending his face into the pavement in a spray of blood, violently knocking him out. The other man only had a second to react to the noise before my foot met his face. I was used to fighting people bigger than I was since my only sparring partner had been Genma for the last three years.

Recoiling from the blow, I dropped to the ground and aimed a kick right at his crotch, hobbling the guy over in pain. Grabbing the man's hair, I used my knee to finish him off, breaking his nose and sending him to dream land.

Breathing softly, I walked over to the two guys and began stripping them of their valuables. Money, watches, cell phones, and a couple of knives in their pockets. The looting finished, I turned to leave when the little girl finally found her voice.

"W-wait!"

I paused as the girl slowly got to her feet, regaining her confidence as the terror of her previous situation slowly faded. As she stood up fully, the shaking stopped as she bowed to me. "Thank you very much," she said politely. "My name is Nanami, what's yours?"

"Rah...ra..Ranma."

My throat stuck a little as I tried to form the Japanese in my mouth. I hadn't really talked to anyone in months, my only human interaction being at times where I beat up thugs like these and briefly dropping into a convenience store to buy things with their looted money. Even then I'd barely done more than nod and shake my head. I'd purposely left my last name out.

"Thank you...Ranma," she repeated cutely, bowing again.

"Your welcome," I got out after a minute. Opening the wallets, I withdrew the money. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy a hot meal for tonight. My tummy grumbled audibly at the thought. I'd long ago given up starting cooking fires. They tended to attract the wrong kind of attention, both human and animal.

"Um, excuse me Ranma?" She was speaking again so I turned to listen. I eyed her as she timidly approached from the shadows of the alley into the streetlight where I could get a better look at her.

Height-wise, she was about an inch shorter than me, with large black eyes and straight brown hair tied off into two short braids with matching pink ribbons. A sleeveless shirt and pair of jean-shorts completed the cute ensemble. She was clutching onto a shopping bag with her right hand, probably full of food items.

I didn't speak but turned to look at her, letting her continue.

"Are you hungry?" I didn't respond, but my stomach was still growling loud enough for her to hear. "Would you like to eat at my place?"

I was still a Saotome by blood. Capitalizing on a free meal was almost hard-coded into our genetics. I nodded the affirmative, causing a smile to break out on her face.

* * *

Nanami, apparently, lived in an apartment with her mother, who was the landlady of the complex. It seemed like a decent middle class living place, with clean rooms and a small, but nice-looking building. Nanami chatted constantly, filling in the void of silence that I'd grown accustomed to. It was odd, listening to someone talk so much when I'd grown used to the sounds of the wild and the self-imposed solitary confinement, but it wasn't bothersome.

Still holding onto my hand, Nanami led me up the steps to the top (third) level of the building before knocking excitedly on one of the doors.

"Coming!" The voice belonged to a middle aged lady. A minute later, the door opened. "Oh, who's this?" The woman's voice was sweet and motherly, almost fitting the stereotype of a caring mother to a tee.

"His names Ranma!" she provided happily. "He saved my life!"

Nanami's mother's eyebrows disappeared into her brown hair. "Oh really? That's wonderful." She ushered us both inside. I barely remembered in time to take my well-worn shoes off. It'd been almost five years since I'd entered a house of any kind.

"So tell me," she said as we sat down around the table. "How did your friend save your life?" She talked as though she were humoring her daughter.

"He beat up some bad men that wanted to take my clothes away."

The shock was clear on the woman's face. It took a moment for her to regain her composure. "Nanami honey, why don't you tend to the pot on the stove?" Her voice was shaky.

"Okay mom," she said happily, jumping off the chair and running to the kitchen.

"Ranma...was it?" She addressed me directly now. I nodded at her to continue. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

I talked slowly, focusing on forming the words in my head before I spoke them. "She was being attacked by a couple of guys. I made them stop."

"You called the police?" she asked hesitantly.

I shook my head. "No. I beat them up." Reaching into my worn but still functional pocket, I withdrew the two wallets I had looted from their bodies and pushed them towards Nanami's mother. Her eyes continued to widen as she saw the people and their ages.

"How?" she asked weakly.

"Martial arts," I said simply. It wasn't as though they were that much older than me. Twenty-five years at most.

"Where did this happen?"

I described the place. I couldn't remember the street name, but she seamed to recognize the location because a minute later she was on the phone with the police, giving the names of the two people whose wallets I'd acquired. I didn't really pay attention to the conversation, but I didn't hear my name mentioned. The story she gave was that some stranger had helped her daughter out and given her their wallets, telling her to run home and call the police.

She hung up the phone a second later and sat down across from me. "I don't know how you did it," she began. "But you probably saved my daughters life. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"I just came for the food," I replied awkwardly. I wasn't used to being treated like an adult.

She smiled brightly at my request. "That's something I can do."

* * *

The police came during dinner, taking a testimony from the mother and daughter along with the looted wallets. Both were careful not to mention my name. The thugs had been found in the alley, still unconscious when the authorities had arrived to pick them up. When she heard the news, Nanami's mother looked at me with surprise. Obviously she had still doubted my story beforehand.

After the authorities had left, the atmosphere grew more relaxed as the conversation turned to mundane things like Nanami's day at school and what her friends were up to. I mostly stayed silent, concentrating on my food and savoring what may have been the last hot meal I'd get for a long time. Occasionally, Nanami or her mother would ask me a question, to which I responded to with short, one-word answers.

I wasn't eating fast intentionally, but I still finished first. "Thanks for the meal," I said when there was a lull in the conversation. I was getting ready to leave when Nanami's mother interrupted me.

"Ranma? Why don't you let me call your parents so they can pick you up."

I shook my head softly. "Don't have any." Not any that I wanted to see again anyways. I couldn't remember my mother at all. Wasn't even sure if she was alive. My pops had said she was dead, but it was hard to believe anything that he said.

"Do you have a last name?"

I shook my head again.

"Do you have a place to live?"

Another shake of my head. I could see the sympathy building in her eyes. She probably just saw me as a young kid without a home when in truth, I was far from defenseless. I'd made it on my own for this long after all.

"Ranma," she started softly. "Would you like to stay here for a while in this apartment?"

Nanami's eyes seemed to light up at the news. "Can Ranma stay with us? Really?"

"Well, it's up to him," she chided gently. "You'd be working as an employee here. Helping me clean the place up. In return, I'll let you use one of the rooms on the second floor. How does that sound?"

"I can work," I responded softly.

"Good. Now, let's get you settled in for the night."

* * *

"It's a bit dusty, but nothing a clean rag won't fix," said Nanami's mother as she unlocked the door to the room. The place was small, consisting of a main living room, a smaller bedroom, an attached kitchenette, and presumably a closed door leading to a water closet.

"Our rooms don't contain showers, but there's a public bath just down the street," she continued, moving over to the closet and pulling out a futon. "Feel free to sleep on this for now."

I nodded my thanks and took the offered futon. Questions were starting to enter my mind, like why was she offering me a job when I was obviously underage? Why was she letting me stay here for free? The only question I asked though, was why?

She seemed to think about it for a minute while she arranged things in the closet. "Nanami's father died when she was very young," she explained sadly. "And her grandparents passed away recently." I could see the tiny beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I was an only child, and most days it seems like Nanami is the only thing I have left in this world. And you protected her from people so much bigger and stronger than you."

Well, that was half-true anyways. Mutely, I responded with, "It's a martial artists duty to protect those who can't protect themselves."

Nanami's mother was smiling now, tears visible in her eyes. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come when you did." Her voice was beginning to break up, and I was starting to feel rather awkward. She didn't seem to be expecting a response though.

"I want you to stay here as long as you want Ranma. Thank you so much for looking after my little girl." Before I could mumble out a response, she had knelt down and hugged me, crying almost too softly to hear. "I'm sorry, I'm getting all emotional." Sniffing softly, she released her hold, giving me a small smile. "I'll wake you up early tomorrow so try and get some rest tonight."

* * *

After that first night, things gradually started falling into a routine. Every morning I woke up early and ran to a nearby park to go through my routine. For some reason there were an unusual number of cats there that somewhat hindered my workouts, but as long as I stayed off the main path they usually didn't bother me.

Nanami's mother put me to work as promised, at first with basic cleaning jobs. Of course, when she found out that I was somehow able to get the entire complex clean in under an hour, my duties were upgraded to minor repairs and maintenance. Even with all those jobs though, my work rarely lasted more than a couple hours. To me, it was just another training exercise, and I was good at training.

Per her mother's request, I also began escorting her daughter to and from school, a small paranoia still present from the events on the night of my arrival. Nanami was all too happy to show me around town and show me off to her friends as her new big brother. It had only taken one beaten up bully to establish me as her unofficial protector, and her as untouchable.

The rest of the day I usually just spent training. Stealthily running from roof to roof, trying not to be noticed, stealing items from stores and putting them back without the owners noticing, and stopping the occasional street criminal.

Mostly, I tried my hardest to overcome my fear of cats. Progress was slow. Painfully slow. The first time I tried approaching the cats in the park, I couldn't get within a hundred meters. Even when I couldn't see them, I could still feel them on the edge of my senses. Every time I tried to walk closer, my body instinctively moved backwards, like someone moving their hand off of a hot stove that just burned them.

I had just gone through a week of failed attempts before I started to get discouraged, but then, something rather strange happened.

* * *

The door opened with a bang, admitting Nanami and her seemingly limitless energy. "Onii-san! Look what I got!"

I paused midway in my one-handed pushup to see her new purchase. She'd often come to my room to model clothes for me, seeking my approval. I don't know why since my clothes rarely ever changed from my classic Chinese shirt and slacks, but I humored her anyways.

What I saw today though, made me lose my balance and topple onto the floor. She was wearing cat ears. I couldn't recall exactly what happened after that, but I remember screaming, losing my balance, and hitting my head hard enough to see stars.

"Ranma! Ranma! What's wrong?"

I closed my eyes and focused on Nanami's voice. She wasn't a cat. Didn't sound like a cat. The only thing she had was cat ears. I felt Nanami's hand on my shoulder, her body language showing how anxious she was. Slowly, I began opening my eyes, focusing first on her feet. As I moved my eyes up her body, I repeated to myself "Not a cat, just Nanami" like a mantra. Finally, after what seemed like forever, my eyes came to rest on her worried face and attached cat ears.

"Onii-san? Are you okay?" she repeated.

I took a deep breath and focused on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that. They look great sis."

Her worried face broke into a cute grin. "Yay! Thank you onii-san." Before I could react, she threw her arms around me in a hug, putting her cat ears right in front of my face. Biting back my initial panic reflex, I steeled myself and gave her a quick pat on the back.

"Why don't you go show your mother?" I asked quickly. Getting an affirmative nod, Nanami bounded out of the room and up the stairs. As soon as she was out the door, I let out a sigh of relief and a shiver of fright. That had severely tested my self control.

But, my mind thought suddenly, it didn't break it. And what doesn't break you, makes you stronger.

Almost unwillingly, my mind started formulating a plan. Nanami had triggered my phobia, but I was able to restrain myself. Maybe it was because she wasn't a full cat, but only part cat.

A catgirl.

My mind almost rebelled at the sheer ridiculousness of it. Despite being on the road nearly all my life, I wasn't quite that oblivious. Catgirls were an acute otaku fetish and had more than their fair share of hentai material associated with them. If anyone ever found me with that kind of material...

I didn't even know why I was debating this. I was a martial artist. Almost anything that would help me further my art was a sacrifice I was willing to make, and being known to like catgirls was a rather small sacrifice comparatively. It's not like I was a pervert or anything, it was just for the sake of training. Really.

Acquiring the posters was easy. After I had been turned into the apartment's handyman, Nanami's mother had begun giving me a small weekly paycheck. I still had dinner with them every night so my food budget was pretty low, and after one clothes shopping trip, I didn't need another one.

Putting up the posters around my room was much harder. To help myself, I focused on the girl parts, keeping the ears and tails in my peripheral vision. Even so, I was sweating by the time I had finished setting up the last of them.

Trying to convince Nanami and her mother that I wasn't some type of otaku was near impossible, so I didn't even try. Being known to have a catgirl fetish was a small price to pay for getting over my phobia. I did notice that Nanami seemed to wear her cat ears around the apartment more often though.

Things continued on this way for about a month. I'd wake up early, stare at my cat posters for about an hour, before running off to the park to train until I was too tired to feel fear. Afterward, I'd run back to the apartment to walk Nanami to school, and then back to do my janitorial duties.

Progress was still slow, but looking at the posters was getting easier. I could now almost completely focus on their ears and tails and not have the urge to bolt from the room. Thinking about cats was starting to get easier too. I still couldn't picture a full one in my mind without instinctively shutting it out, but I could say the word out loud without stuttering now. Nanami's cat girl outfit didn't cause any reaction at all anymore.

And then, a new monkey wrench was thrown into the works.

* * *

 _Two Months Later..._

"School?"

"Yes Ranma, school." Nanami's mother had her arms crossed in front of her, a no nonsense gaze on her face. I could already tell I wasn't going to win this argument even before it began.

"What do I need school for?" I protested weakly.

"Basic life skills. Reading, writing, doing math, acquiring the things you need to get a job and make a living," she listed off.

"But I have a job."

"That's sweet of you Ranma, but I can't realistically expect you to take care of this place for the rest of your life. Even Nanami will move on eventually. No, you need this. Besides, you can protect Nanami better there." She pressed a school bag into my hands.

Reluctantly, I took it, but not without one last protest. "She doesn't need protection. Hits harder than a tomboy."

"I heard that!" came Nanami's voice from the other room.

"I bought your uniform yesterday. Would you like to try it on now?"

I blinked. "I have to wear a uniform?"

"Of course you do Ranma, why would you think otherwise?"

"Eh, no reason."

I sighed absently as I shouldered my book bag and walked on the narrow strip of the fence. "Man, what a waste of time."

"You didn't even stay awake!" Shouted Nanami from below.

"I could have just been sleeping in my room, but now I had to waste precious sleep time in school."

"You're not supposed to sleep in school!"

"Why not?"

Nanami stopped for a minute to think about it. "Because the teachers told us not to!" Was all she could come up with.

I rolled my eyes at that before casually catching the book bag thrown at me. "Why do we have to listen to what the teachers say?"

"Because we have to!" she responded childishly.

"Why do we have to?" I replied innocently.

"Quit being mean!"

I laughed and ran ahead of her while balancing on the fence, but not fast enough to leave her behind. I had to look out for her after all.

"Meow!"

I stopped on the fence in mid stride at the sound of the cat. For some reason, I hadn't felt it on the edge of my senses like I normally did. Slowly, I brought my foot down, watching interestedly as a small white cat, smaller than the length of my arm, crawled out onto the fence and began walking towards me.

There was an initial surge of terror that I desperately fought back. Amazingly, I even seemed to be gaining some ground against it, but I couldn't stop myself from taking a couple steps backwards. The cat, as if suddenly noticing my presence, turned its head to stare at me curiously, locking its eyes with mine. Unconsciously, my body began to tremble as I entered into a staring contest with the feline, who seemed content to just keep watching me.

"I think it wants to get by." I jumped as Nanami's voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

Hesitantly, I hopped off the fence and let the cat walk by, receiving an annoyed glance as it passed.

"Onii-san? Are you okay? You're sweating," said Nanami nervously.

At long last the cat finally went out of sight, allowing me to collapse onto my knees from the adrenaline rush. Dimly, I could hear Nanami's worried voice in the background, but I couldn't make out the words. Slowly, I felt consciousness leave me, but at the same time I didn't mind too much. I was able to stand in the vicinity of a cat for one minute without running, screaming, or yelling. And that was progress in my book.

* * *

 _Somewhere unknown..._

"Amazing. Simply amazing."

I didn't recognize the voice above me, nor could I readily move my body. The very air around me felt like wet cement. Slowly, I opened my eyes, only to see a large white-

"YAAAHHH!"

Adrenaline flooded my system and I shot up suddenly, accidentally hitting the big white cat in the head.

"Meoooooww!"

I turned, getting a good look at what I had just unintentionally hit. It was a white animal with yellow eyes and a red collar with a golden bell attached. In every sense of the word, it looked like a cat, however...

"You're not a cat," I declared.

The white...thing rubbed his nose a few times. "How rude! Of course I'm a cat, can't you tell? That really hurt by the way."

"Cats can't talk," I pointed out. Really, it was rather obvious.

"Your mind is just in denial right now," he explained easily. "Would it help if I looked more like this?" His body began to transform, his dimensions getting smaller and his body transforming into a classic feline variety.

"Alright alright! Fine, you're a c-cat. What do you want? Actually, where am I? Better yet, who are you?" The initial shock over, questions were starting to pop into my mind like fireworks.

The creature (not cat) returned to his form with a slight 'pop'. "Well, to answer your questions in no particular order, I'm the god of all cats, I wished to speak to you, and your soul is currently in that weird gray zone between the real world and reality that no one has ever really found a good name for."

"Limbo?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not even close to that hell-hole," he responded shortly.

"Purgatory?"

"I'm a cat god. Do I look catholic to you?"

"Well what do you call it then?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"A nice break from divine duties and a good escape from the wife." Seeing my confused look, he shook his head. "Don't worry kid, you'll understand when you're older."

I shook my head, brushing off his last statement. "So, why exactly am I here again?"

"Well, honestly, I was just here to comment on how amazing it was that you were able to make such great progress in curing the Neko-ken."

I flinched at the mention of the technique. "Progress? It's been two months and the only 'progress' I've made is being able to stare at a cat-girl without shaking in terror! Just being in the vicinity of a cat for one minute knocked me out cold!"

"I think the important part is that you are trying," said the cat god smoothly. "Honestly, you've made it farther than most. Up until now, everyone who has tried the technique turned into a berserker or died during training. You've at least kept your sanity."

"This isn't making me feel any better," I spat out bitterly. "I don't suppose you have any sort of...oh I dunno, divine assistance to offer or something?"

The cat god seemed to think about it for a minute. "Nope. I'm just here to pat you on the back and tell you good job and to keep at it."

The only thing keeping me from punching him at that moment was that he could turn into a cat at will. "Okay. Great. Compliment accepted. Can I go now?"

My sarcasm didn't seem to register with the cat. "Sure thing. Now just close your eyes and-"

POOF!

I blinked as a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared in front of me. "Now hold on just a minute dear," said a distinctly female voice, coming from the smokescreen.

"Oh dear," said the cat god, looking genuinely worried. "Brace yourself kid."

It was only due to my 'training' with the catgirl posters that stopped me from running in terror. This woman was a real-life catgril, complete with ears, tails, and sharp claws. Her skin was a dark brown, her chest was of enviable size, and only a small golden bikini covered it.

"Hello dear," muttered the cat god sullenly.

"Why do you always go off and play with the mortals without me?" she complained, making a cute face.

"Because you're always too soft on them," he countered quickly. "Every time you see one you can't resist-"

"Oh you got a cute one this time!" she squealed excitedly before running over to me and enveloping me in a hug.

"-hugging them," finished the cat-god lamely. It was apparent that this was an age-old discussion between the two.

I was barely listening to the words being spoken, trying desperately not to run and scream in absolute terror, even though many men would have killed to be in my position right now. I could feel the fur on her soft chest, smell the telltale cat aroma, and could feel her petting the top of my head as if _I_ were a cat.

The cat-woman seemed to realize something was wrong from my lack of reaction as she pulled back after a few seconds of petting. Kneeling down, she looked into my wide eyes. "Oh dear, is he a neko-ken victim?" she asked worriedly.

"Yes," said the cat-god miserably. "I was trying to give him some words of encouragement-"

"C-cop out!" I stuttered weakly.

"-because he's kept his sanity more than anyone else I've ever seen," he finished as though I hadn't interrupted.

"Well, he seems to be regaining motor control," said the cat-goddess nicely. "Are you afraid of me little child?" she asked kindly.

Her sad face was almost too much to resist. "N-no," I lied shakily.

"Aw, he's trying so hard too. We should help him!" she decided resolutely.

"But Bast sweetie, you know the rules. The amount that we can influence the the human world-"

"-is limited and regulated," she finished easily. "But what if we..." She trailed off and a small smile appeared on her face. For some reason, it started to give me shivers completely unrelated to the neko-ken.

Walking over to her husband (at least I guess it was her husband), she knelt down and conspiratorially whispered something in his ear. The cat-god began nodding his head slowly. "Yes, yes, that could definitely work. That's a great plan dear."

"Of course it is, I thought it up," she teased lightly. "Well Ranma, it looks as though you'll be getting a divine gift soon!"

"Wait, what?" My mind suddenly snapped back to reality, having been fighting my terror back down into the recesses of my mind.

"We can't give it to you right away though," said the cat-god. "You'll have to wait a few more years. Something to look forward to on your sixteenth birthday I suppose."

"Um...thanks?" I was rather confused. What on earth could be so dangerous that I'd have to wait till I was sixteen to get it?

"Make sure to keep up your 'training' though," said Bast with a wink.

"It'll help when the time comes," finished the cat-god.

"You should probably wake up now," suggested Bast. "That cute human girl is starting to worry about you."

" _-nma! Ranma! Onii-san!"_

Nanami's voice seemed to echo in my head. As my vision of the small Japanese house faded, Nanami's voice grew louder.

* * *

"Onii-san!"

The minute my eyes opened, a crying Nanami immediately tackle-hugged me. I quickly returned the embrace, softy petting her back and muttering reassurances into her ear. A minute later, Nanami's mother came into the room, smiling at the scene.

"Now now Nanami, let the poor kid breathe," she chided gently, attempting to pry apart Nanami's iron grip. After trying (and failing) she sat down across from me. "So what happened to you Ranma?"

"Huh?"

My mind was still spinning with the otherworldly conversation I'd just had, so I was a little slow on the uptake.

"Nanami said you fainted on the way home from school. Is there some medical condition you have that we should know about?" she asked kindly.

"Oh um, nothing like that," I began nervously. "I just have a bit of a cat problem. One caught me by surprise and I fainted."

Nanami's mother looked at me skeptically. "If you fainted from seeing a cat, that seems to be a bit more than a problem."

"If you're afraid of cats," came Nanami's muffled voice from my chest. "Then why do you have cat-girl posters in your room?"

I winced as I saw Nanami's mother raise an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little young for those?"

"It's training!" I protested loudly. "I'm not as 'fraid of them as I am of real cats."

Nanami's mother still looked skeptical, but thankfully decided to let the subject drop. "Why are you so afraid of cats?" she asked instead.

"I don't like talking about it," I said sullenly.

"That's okay. You don't have to," she assured me. "Just try not to worry us in the future okay?"

I nodded my agreement and the older woman left the two of us alone.

"Onii-san?" Nanami's tears had died down now.

"Yeah?" I asked hesitantly.

With a small sniffle, she looked into my eyes. "Promise me you won't leave, okay?"

I blinked. "Um...well-"

"Promise!" She practically shouted at me.

"Alright alright. I promise. Yeesh. Tomboy."

I received a light smack on the head for that, but there wasn't any malice behind it.

* * *

 _Several dozen miles away..._

Ranma's picture wasn't getting him anywhere anymore. People had recognized the small boy for the first few towns he'd tried, but Ranma was nothing if not a fast learner, sticking to the wilds when possible and remaining unseen when entering towns and villages. Nowadays, he'd been reduced to looking for abandoned campsites and telltale signs of human habitation.

It was a losing battle though. The boy had been steadily getting better at hiding the signs of his presence, and the last trail of his had just gone cold. Almost as if he knew someone was still following him.

"At least I taught the kid well enough,"

Japan, haystack. Ranma, needle. In the end though, it didn't really matter. He couldn't go to the Tendo dojo without the boy, and he'd never return to Nodoka without him either. Slipping Ranma's picture back into his gi, the martial artist made his way towards a convenience store, preparing to secure his evening meal.

* * *

 _Several hundred miles away..._

"Where the hell am I now?" Ryoga looked around, desperately trying to find a familiar landmark, but failing. For some reason, he thought that it should be someone's fault, but for the life of him he couldn't think of a name.

* * *

 _About a thousand miles away..._

Akane sat idly at the table, drumming her fingers as she watched the nondescript television program being aired.

"Hey sis," said Nabiki, looking up from her manga.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think ClanCrusher is ever going to give us a significant role in _any_ of his stories?"

Akane sighed. "Nope. Probably not."

* * *

 _In a galaxy far far away..._

"Ranma! Use the force!"

"It's ki god dammit!"

END

* * *

A/N: I...really don't have an explanation for this story. It's just...an idea. I don't know. It is going to be my first attempt at writing a romantic comedy story, so bear with me, and please let me know if you spot anything I could do better at. The next chapter will involve a six year jump forward, and the big reveal of Ranma's 'present' from the gods.

As always, reviews are appreciated, criticism even more so. Flames will probably be dissected and discussed on my forums, because that's what I do. I will make an effort to respond to everyone's reviews, as they are the only thing I'm getting from this (other than valuable writing experience that is).


	8. Cat's Paw: Chapter 2

A/N: Someone really needs to tell me why this story is so absurdly popular. Seriously, I've written _one_ chapter for this story, and already the feedback has far surpassed the stats of all my other story's first chapters. Who knows, maybe there's just more people reading fanfiction nowadays. Or perhaps people don't update as often in the summer. Either way, enjoy the next installment of Cat's Paw.

* * *

"Come here little guy," I said shakily, brandishing the food in my hand like a shield.

The monster looked at me warily, as if expecting an underhanded trick of some kind. Hunger finally won out over reason though, and he slowly began approaching, hungry but wary. As the creature crept closer, my body began to shake again, no matter how hard I tried to subdue it.

Three feet now...t-two feet...one f-f-fuck it. Turning my hand over, I dumped the food onto the ground and stepped back as fast as I could. The stray cat mewled happily and pounced on the offering, now completely ignoring me.

I sighed and sat back down on the ground, watching silently as the cat ate. I'd been doing this exercise for five years now, and I still couldn't bring myself to actually touch a cat. I could get close to one without freaking out (too much) but they still scared me.

I'd had grown mostly immune to my cat-girl posters, although that might have been my mind rationally deciding that they were more like people than cats. Meditation did nothing for me anymore. For some reason, my mind just seemed incapable of rationalizing my fear, making me incapable of thinking about it properly. Either way, I'd hit a dead end once again, and this time no amount of cat-girl posters were going to help.

I turned as I heard a sigh behind me to see Nanami sitting on one of the park benches, watching me. "Still at it Ranma?"

"It's a weakness," I said simply. "I need to continue working to overcome it."

Nanami shook her head sadly. "Just make sure they don't follow you back this time. No pets in the apartment remember?"

As if I'd ever want one of those furry monsters to follow me anywhere. She had a point though. My daily training exercises had begun to gather a large crowd of strays. Moving away from the feeding frenzy taking place, I took a small trail off the main park pathway and into the somewhat secluded surrounding forest, Nanami following close behind to observe the rest of my morning routine.

I started out slow, beginning with the absolute basics; punches, blocks, and kicks. Slowly, I began speeding up, making the most of the space in the clearing. Occasionally, I would make a leap and do several attacks in the air before falling to the ground and finishing the form. Other times I would stay in the air for minutes at a time, keeping my height by rebounding off the trees and branches. Finally, at the height of my speed, I rebounded off of a tree and crashed into the ground, making a small crater.

Facing one of the taller trees in the clearing, I gathered my internal energies, letting them flow to a focal point in my hands. Concentrating as well as I could, I threw my hands forward in a cross chop.

"KIJIN RASHUU DAN!"

The air in front of me rippled with my blow before slamming into the tree. The wood seemed to groan in protest for a bit before the entire thing toppled towards me, split off from its base. From the sideline, I heard Nanami give a small gasp. She had been a constant companion to my morning routines, but this new addition had apparently caught her off guard.

I waited until the tree was at a forty-five degree angle before I began moving again.

"KIJIN-GUN DAI RANBU!"

I began moving into another kata, this one of my own making. Quickly and precisely, I began throwing vacuum blades, one after the other, each one cutting off part of the tree at a measured length. By the time the last of the tree was ready to fall, the remaining stump was only as tall as me. With a mighty kick, I sent the stump flying into the air.

"SAIDAIKYU KIJIN RASHUU DAN!"

The biggest vacuum blade split the wood lengthwise, causing the stump to fall into near-perfect halves on either side of me. Breathing slowly, I closed my eyes and let out a long breath, calming my body and cooling my adrenaline. With deliberate motion, I opened my eyes and surveyed the destruction of the clearing.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would."

SMACK!

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" I shouted at Nanami, who had smacked me in the back of the head.

"You idiot! This is a park! You can't go around destroying trees like that!"

Oh yeah. Oops. "I think we should get to class," I said quickly, trying to change the subject and provide an excuse to leave the scene.

"Like you ever pay attention in school," she retorted angrily. "What did that tree ever do to you?"

"It made itself a great target for my techniques," I said simply. Unfortunately, I could tell by her expression that it wasn't the answer she was looking for. Fortunately, it really was time to get to class so I was spared a lecture.

"Grrr...this isn't over Ranma. We'll talk about your defilement of nature after class."

Making a mental note to ditch school as soon as possible, I merely nodded.

"And if you ditch school again I'm going to tell mom!" she threatened.

Ouch. Low blow Nanami. Resigning myself to my fate, I fell into line as we walked towards school.

* * *

"You know, I don't know how you ever managed to get into high school with your sleeping habits," said Nanami sourly as she and I walked home from school.

"Well why don't you try cutting a tree into sawdust and see how energetic you feel afterward," I teased lightly.

"You're lucky I'm such a good friend or I probably wouldn't let you look at my notes," she threatened.

I sighed but said what she wanted to hear anyways. "Thank you for being such a good friend Nanami."

"And don't you forget it either."

As if I could. We'd been having variations of this conversation for nigh on five years now. Honestly, I had never put much stock into school. Between my training, helping Nanami's mother, and the part time job I had taken later to supplement my income, school had taken a backseat.

It hadn't stopped Nanami and her mother from doing everything in their power to help me pass though. As such, through a combination of last minute cramming and constant pestering, I'd been consistently making average marks despite my less than stellar scholastic habits.

"I still don't understand why I have to learn algebra," I said sourly. "It has nothing to do with martial arts."

"Did you ever think there might be more to life than martial arts?" asked Nanami sarcastically.

"Of course I've thought about it. It's just that those things are boring."

"So what do you want to do when you grow up?" Her voice was genuinely curious now.

I shrugged noncommittally. "Don't know. Travel the world, perfect my art, go on a mystical magical journey of self-discovery that might get transcribed into an anime one day."

"You've never thought about settling down?" She seemed to be nervous as she said this, her voice much quieter as she spoke.

"Meh." I purposefully stayed vague. Truthfully, I suppose I wasn't completely opposed to settling down, but traveling just seemed more appealing to me after doing it for half my life. Besides, I was sixteen. What kind of question was that anyways?

I couldn't tell if she was satisfied with my answer or not as she didn't speak to me the rest of the way home. Sighing lightly I waved goodbye at the entrance to the apartment and headed for my part-time job, moving quickly along the rooftops now that I wasn't escorting Nanami. Within seconds, I was in front of Exelion.

Exelion was a small local diner, privately owned by a single woman who, quite frankly, looked like a princess. Despite her insistence that she was over thirty years old, her long golden hair coupled with her full chest and cute waitress outfit didn't seem to put her a day over twenty-one. Apparently, she was also great friends with Nanami's mother, which is how I landed this job, even though I was legally underage.

Calling out a quick greeting, I hastily made my way to the employee room where I changed at warp speed. Ten seconds later, I emerged from the room, fully dressed in my waiters outfit.

"Someday you'll have to show me how you do that," she said approvingly as she surveyed my uniform.

"Just practice miss," I assured her.

"Indeed. You are quite the quick change artist." She giggled at her own joke.

I didn't get it. Seeing my flat expression, she coughed lightly before handing me a few plates. "Okay, two Sizzler Silver Combinations for table four."

I nodded and expertly threaded my way through the tables and customers, placing the orders at the correct tables within seconds. It was currently dinner time and rather busy by most restaurant standards, but all that meant for me was a slightly tougher workout.

A few hours later, the dinner rush was over and I was finishing the last of the dishes. Stretching slightly, I glanced at the clock and found that I was an hour past my usual quitting time. Huh. Guess it was busier than I thought.

"Good job tonight Ranma," said the manager from behind the counter. "I think you even did some overtime tonight."

I brushed the compliment off. "It was nothing ma'am. I'm no stranger to hard work."

She thought for a minute, idly playing with her long curly hair. "Why don't you take a meal and head home then," she suggested. "I also saved some leftovers for your little friends." She passed me a to-go box and a meal bag, which I accepted, not bothering to correct her that cats were in no way shape or form my friends. Only adversaries to overcome.

Regardless, I accepted the food with a thank you. At the very least it would unburden Nanami's mother from having to feed me another night. Saying my goodbyes, I left the store and jumped to the rooftops.

* * *

For some unexplainable reason, the cardboard box sitting next to my apartment complex set off my danger sense into hyper mode. A careful examination of the package revealed nothing. No stamps, no labels, and no return address.

Hesitantly, I picked up the box, finding it surprisingly light. Looking on the underside still revealed nothing as to who the box was meant for, or where it came from. I was just about to put it down when a horrendous sound echoed through the still night.

"Meow...meow..."

I nearly dropped the box in shock, but I was fearful that the contents inside might be fragile. Slowly, I placed the box on the ground and began looking for the origin of the sound. A quick scan of the street revealed nothing.

"Meow...meow..."

It was fainter this time, but it was still unmistakably a cat's meow.

"Where are you you stupid feline," I said challengingly. Still seeing nothing, I turned back to the box. It was rattling now.

"Every single sense that I've developed in twelve years of martial arts training is telling me not to open that box," I said out loud. I stood still for another second before slowly approaching the package, trying to peak through the handle hole. Twelve years, and I still haven't learned any better.

Unfortunately, it was too dark to see. I could sense a small life force coming from within, and a warm familiar sent was wafting from the box.

"It sounds like a cat, smells like a cat, and feels like a cat." And yet, I was still tempted to open the damn thing. Why? I don't know, I was curious dammit!

"It's probably an abandoned cat," I rationalized. And that meant it was probably hungry too. Suddenly, the cat-food the manager had given me started to feel heavy in my hands. God damn nobility. With a sigh, I bit my lip and opened the box.

FLAAAAASH!

I cursed and dropped the bags, rubbing my eyes furiously as I tried to recover from the blinding light. What the hell was going on? I blinked a couple more times, my vision finally regaining focus, and looked inside the box.

"What the fu-"

You know, usually I have a very clean mouth. Even when I'm fighting I tend to stay away from profanity. Sometimes though, there was just no other substitute. Black hair, brown ears, brown tail and complete with a yellow ribbon and red collar with a bell, was an unmistakable catgirl. And she was completely naked.

For a minute, my mind tried to rationalize it as being some sort of hentai catgirl doll, but I could still feel the life energy coming from her. Questions started popping into my mind like fireworks. Oddly enough, the first one I asked myself is why, if she had a ribbon in her hair, did she not have any other clothes? And who the hell put a...humanoid being in a box in the first place?

"Meow..."

Instinctively, I jumped away from the box as the catgril gave out another mewl, turning over slightly but otherwise unaffected by my shouting. Eventually, my rationale caught up to my initial panic and I reassessed the situation, pointedly ignoring the fact that she was part cat.

She was a girl, and someone had abandoned her here. For a moment, I was at a loss as to what I should do. Briefly, I thought about calling the police, but quickly realized the nearest phone was in my room.

"I can't just leave her out here," I said softly. Closing the lid of the box, I quickly hauled it into my apartment, praying that no one had actually seen me. That would have been rather awkward to explain.

* * *

Her modesty now preserved by the blanket on my futon, I reassessed the situation in my head. Of course, no matter how much I thought about it, all my thinking brought me back to the same question. "Now what?"

She didn't have any sort of identification (or clothes for that matter), and was sleeping in a near comatose state. Experimentally, I had made some loud noises to try and get a reaction, but nothing had worked insofar.

I looked around the room once more before sighing. "Well, at least Nanami doesn't-"

BANG!

I flinched as Nanami threw open my previously locked door without warning. "Doesn't what?" she asked with a false sweetness. Quickly I threw the blanket over the cat-girl's head and hurried to meet Nanami in the hallway, trying to block her sight into the living room.

"Oh uh...hey Nanami. What are you doing here?" I tried to act as nonchalant as possible.

She held up the bag she was holding. "Mom wanted to give you some leftovers since you didn't show up for dinner tonight." She began trying to move towards my kitchenette but I blocked her way.

"Thanks sis, but I already got some food from the restaurant," I said quickly. A little too quickly it seems, as I saw Nanami's eyes narrow in suspicion.

"What are you hiding?" she asked evenly.

"Nothing!"

"Then you won't mind if I come in then," she stated. With a purposeful step, she tried to move around me, but I quickly matched her step, keeping my body in front of her line of sight.

"Uh...well actually that's not a good idea right now. I'm doing uh...guy stuff!" I invented.

Nanami gave me a flat stare. "Like hell you are. You don't have a sex drive."

I blinked. "What?"

"Just move!" STOMP!

"OW!"

Truthfully it didn't particularly hurt, but it was surprising enough for her to get around me. Briefly I entertained the idea of just running out the door and disappearing for a couple days while I waited for her to cool down, but she'd probably just corner me at my job or at school later. Silently, I began a countdown in my head.

"What the hell? RANMA!"

Sighing, I walked into the living room. "Would you believe me when I say this isn't what it looks like?"

Nanami gave me a deadpan stare as she re-covered the guest. "You have a naked girl with cat ears and a cat tail lying in your bed and there are several cat-girl posters put up around your room. How exactly am I supposed to interpret this?"

"Hey come on now!" I protested. "Weren't you just saying that I have no sex drive?"

"Well maybe you're better at hiding it than I thought," she said snidely. "Jeeze, you even convinced her to wear a cat collar!"

"I'm not like that!" I shouted. "I just found her on the street!"

That was apparently the wrong thing to say. "Oh so you just pick up girls off the street now?"

"No! And quit twisting my words around!"

"Then start speaking straight!"

"I am speaking straight! Your hearing is skewed!"

"Meow..."

Our shouting match cut off abruptly as the girl gave a quiet meow and began to stretch. Respectfully, I turned away, but not before noticing that the way she stretched with her hands out in front and arched back looked eerily similar to a cat waking up.

"Hey uh...Nanami? Can you get some clothes for her please?"

"What? You tore her clothes too? Why-"

"NANAMI!" I yelled in equal parts embarrassment and anger.

She seemed taken aback by my shout. "Right. Sorry. Be right back." In a flash she was gone, leaving me alone with the waking guest.

"Miyah..."

The sound was like a cross between a yawn and a meow. As if waking up from a light sleep rather than a coma like state, the cat-girl rubbed her face before focusing on the room she was in, her cute round eyes reflecting the light. I wanted to run. My brain was telling me that the...person in front of me was incredibly dangerous and closely related to my greatest enemies. However, my body refused to move.

God I felt awkward. What the hell was I supposed to say to her? Hi I found you on the street completely naked and placed in a cardboard box, please don't think of this in the wrong way.

"Where am I?" She was sitting up in my futon now, seemingly unconcerned that the blanket covering her modesty had fallen away. Her cat ears were fluttering like independent appendages, confirming that she was indeed, a cat-girl.

Inevitably, her eyes fell on me.

"Oh." Her face resolute, she jumped gracefully out of the futon to stand before me, in all her naked glory. "Nice to meet you. My name is Mikan. Meow!"

I flinched at the cat-call, but couldn't bring myself to turn away. Slowly, she began moving her face closer to mine until our noses were touching, and I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. In the back of my mind, something told me that she had just introduced herself, and that I should try the same.

"N...n-nice to meet you M-Mikan," I stuttered badly. Whether it was from fear of her cat parts or embarrassment from her girl parts, I honestly couldn't tell anymore.

Fwoof!

My vision was suddenly obscured by a purple colored cloth. Removed from sight, I finally found my motor functions and desperately moved backwards, brandishing the clothes in front of me like a shield. "Er...Mikan why don't you put these on?"

"Why?" I couldn't see her face but I could almost feel her innocently curious look.

"It's socially proper," cut in Nanami's voice. "It's necessary to keep the boys in line." Hey, come on now.

"So, Mikan right?" The cat-girl nodded, taking the clothes from my grasp and holding them close to her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I-"

"He didn't kidnap you did he?" she asked worriedly.

"No I-"

"Have you two been going steady?"

"Er-"

"How long have you been seeing him huh?"

"We've only just-"

"He's blackmailing you isn't he? That's why your dressed as a cat-girl! I know his taste!"

"Actually-"

"Don't tell me he's-"

BONK!

Nanami suddenly cut off her rant as I lightly flicked her nose. I had regained my composure now that Mikan was covering herself. "Let's not smother our guest, okay sis?"

Nanami glared at me but kept quiet. "So Mikan," I started. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I came from the Cat Kingdom because the cat-god ordered me to serve my master! And that master is you Ranma-sama!" she explained excitedly.

Nanami arched an eyebrow. "Ranma-sama?" There was venom laced in her voice now.

"I've never seen her before in my life!" I protested vainly. "Honestly!"

Nanami ignored me and turned back to Mikan, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Mikan, it's okay. You can tell me. Did he give you anything funny to drink?"

"Will you stop that?" I shouted. "I'm not like that!"

Mikan brushed off Nanami's hand and approached me again, dropping her garments in the process. Energetically she began snuggling up to me, rubbing her nose and forehead against my chest, just like a real cat. Nanami merely stared at her, as if trying to come to grips with the situation.

"So...you're saying that you're from the 'cat-kingdom' and Ranma is your...master?"

"Yep!" she mewled happily.

"Ranma do you seriously believe what she's saying?" asked Nanami skeptically. With confidence, she reached towards Mikan's ears, probably expecting them to be a headband of some sort.

BRRR...FLAP-FLAP...

Only for Mikan's ears to flutter as Nanmi touched them. My sister backed off in surprise. "It can't be!" She quickly rubbed her eyes. "Th...they're real! They're real cat ears!"

As gently and carefully as I could, I pried Miakn's arms off of me and handed her the clothes she dropped. She seemed to pout at the loss of contact, but covered her womanly parts.

"So uh..." Nanami fished around for a topic of conversation. "How did you come here from the cat-kingdom then?" she asked finally.

Her ears drooped as she sat back down on the futon, her eyes downcast. "To tell you the truth, I was fired while I was working as a maid. I was desperately trying to find a job when the cat-god and his wife Bast appeared in front of me and told me to go serve my master."

I had been working on controlling my breathing up to that point, but that name suddenly triggered a memory that I'd hadn't recalled for nearly six years.

" _We can't give it to you right away though," said the cat-god. "You'll have to wait a few more years. Something to look forward to on your sixteenth birthday I suppose."_

" _Make sure to keep up your 'training' though," said Bast with a wink._

" _It'll help when the time comes," finished the cat-god._

My mind came back to reality with a snap. "Wait, so you're the 'divine gift' that I got from the cat-god?"

Mikan smiled and nodded enthusiastically, her tail twitching behind her. "I went to a church, had a ceremony, and...I was here when I woke up." As nimbly as a cat, she pounced on me, pressing her soft chest into mine, her cat-like sent floating into my nose. "I'll serve you very well, Ranma-sama!"

Then, she licked my neck.

"GAH!" I couldn't stop the yelp that escaped my lips. Mikan paused in her ministrations to stare at me worriedly.

"Ah! That's right, Bast told me to take it easy," she reminded herself. Slowly, so at not to panic me again, she reached her arms around my body and snuggled into me. Involuntary shivers went up my spine.

"Alright that's enough out of you." With her unnatural tomboyish strength, Nanami pulled the enthusiastic cat girl off of me by her collar. "Listen you, I don't know how much you know about Ranma, but he has a problem with cats, and you're not helping him by acting like that."

"Aww," pouted Mikan cutely. "But Master Ranma smells so nice!"

Breathing heavily, I finally managed to reassert control over my mind and body. "Uh, Mikan? I'm really grateful that you're willing to be my maid and all but..." I trailed off as I saw her face begin to fall. Before I could even find the words, Mikan had begun to sniffle. Guilt was already welling up inside me and I hadn't even finished my sentence yet.

"...but I don't know how comfortable you'll be sleeping on the floor in here," I invented quickly. "I only really have room for one person."

Like a flash the sad expression disappeared, replaced by an innocently smiling cat-girl. Under her breath, I could hear Nanami saying, "Oh, you're good." For some reason, I felt like I'd just been had.

"I don't mind a bit," she assured me quickly. Shaking free of Nanami's grip she slinked towards me again. "I'll serve you, but you'll have to reward me."

"Er...reward you? How?" I stared into her eyes, pointedly not looking at her ears or tail.

She seemed to think about it for a minute. "Well, Bast said to take it slow, so how about this?" Gently, almost featherlight, she put her lips to mine before I could react. My mind practically split in two at the contact. It was a cat, yes, but it felt...good. Before I could register an emotion, Mikan deepened the kiss, quickly invading my mouth, entangling her pointed tongue with mine. I hardly even noticed when her arms encircled me and her naked breasts began to press against my chest. A strange, unfamiliar sensation was starting to pool in my gut.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she released my mouth, licking her lips enticingly. "Mmmm, Master tastes good."

WHAM!

Reality came crashing down on me in the form of Nanami's fist to my head. "Would you mind not doing that right in front of me?" she asked angrily.

"What are you hitting me for?" I protested. "She's the one who kissed me!"

"You're taking advantage of her!"

"I told you I'm not like that!"

"Um...excuse me?"

"What?" asked Nanami in a shouting voice, causing Miakn to take a step back.

"Did Mikan do something wrong?" I swear, she has a cute innocent-like face to die for. Talking in the third person was almost too much. Even Nanami's tomboyish rage was melting away under Mikan's apologetic gaze.

"Er...well..." Finding nothing to say, she whirled on me. "If she's staying with you, you're paying extra on your rent!"

I sighed but didn't say anything. It was only fair after all.

"And you had better keep your clothes on at all times unless you're bathing or sleeping," said Nanami to Mikan. "And don't move until you're dressed!" Mikan gave a small 'eep' before complying with Nanami's orders. Probably some sort of primal self-preservation instinct at work.

Nanami shot one last glare my way before throwing open my apartment door with a bang, and stomping out. Mikan and I were silent. Seconds later a cool breeze blew through my open door, clearing the glazed look from the cat-girl's face.

"Ah, I apologize if I came across too strong." I noticed that her tone had changed from cute and seductive to demure and innocent. I questioned the sudden shift.

"Are you okay Mikan?"

"I'm sorry, the heat was getting to me. Master smelled really good," she purred quietly.

"Ah...thanks I guess..." I trailed off awkwardly. "So where would you like to sleep then?"

Innocently, she glanced towards my futon.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said quickly. "I'll sleep on the floor, I'm used to it."

"But Master-"

BANG!

I winced at the sound of the door being thrown against the wall again. "It was already open," I grumbled quietly.

"Here." Just in time, I turned around and caught a rolled up a futon and pillow.

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

Nanami rolled her eyes. "Just try and get some sleep tonight, pervert."

"I told you I'm not like that," I said weakly to her retreating back.

SLAM!

I winced again at the slammed door. She was angry. God knows why, not like I asked for this cat-girl to come live with me, it was that stupid cat-god's fault, or his wife's fault. Whatever. Point is, not my fault. I mean really, what was I supposed to do, leave her on the street?

"Master Ranma, is everything okay?" Mikan had noticed me losing myself in thought. I turned to look at her, now fully dressed.

My first thought was where on earth did Nanami get these clothes? Mikan was wearing a purple long sleeved dress, lined with white frills. If Mikan added an apron, it would easily pass as a maid's outfit. A small, innocent, cat-girl maid. Just how many fetishes was that rolled into one?

"Do you like it?" she asked suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"It's perfect for you," I said without realizing it.

Her smile seemed to light up the room. For a moment, I almost forgot she was part cat.

* * *

"Hey...hey, Ranma. Did meyou receive my gift okay?" An old yet familiar voice interrupted my sleep. A voice I'd hadn't heard for six years.

Slowly, I opened my eyes to see the white grinning face of the cat god, leaning over me eerily.

CAT!

Registering a threat, I shot up without warning, hitting the cat-god on the nose.

"Neeeooooowwww! That's the second time meyuve done that," he complained, rubbing his nose.

"What's wrong with you?" I'd noticed that the cat-god had come to my place of residence this time, so I kept my voice to a harsh whisper. "Do you want someone to see you?"

The white cat shook his head. "I only let people who I want to see see me. But seriously, did meyou get my gift alright?"

I scratched my head. "What gift, you mean Mikan? That's the gift your wife said she was going to give me for my sixteenth birthday?"

"Yep!" he said happily.

"Yeah, she came shoved in a box with very little air, no food, no water, laying where anyone with half a mind could have randomly picked her up. What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted softly.

"Hey, I know the system isn't perfect, but meyou did get her right?" he asked sheepishly. "I'd like to see you try and transport someone between two different worlds."

I groaned, frustrated with his logic. "Why do you even need to ask me anyways, aren't you a god?"

The cat actually looked affronted at my question. "How rude! Of course I'm a god!"

I wonder sometimes. Maybe Mikan was smart to get out of his domain when she could.

"So did you get it?" he asked again.

I decided to humor him for the moment. "Yeah, she's sleeping in the living room right now."

The cat god looked relieved at the news. Reaching under his collar, he pulled out a receipt.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. The gods have lots of paperwork to process. My secretary and accountant will get furious otherwise. Sign here please." He pushed the paper into my hands, along with a pen which he pulled from...never mind I don't want to know.

"Now hold on a second, I didn't exactly agree to this," I began cautiously. "I don't really think-"

My senses alerted me to the presence of another person right before Bast poofed into existence beside her husband. She was looking at me with something akin to worry on her face. "She can't go back Ranma," she said gently. "For her, this was a one way trip. Even if she could, she doesn't have anything to go back to."

I flinched as if I'd been struck. What Bast had said had hit a little too close to home for my liking. "She came here of her own free will?" I asked hesitantly.

"She was chosen to be your companion, maybe more if you let her," said Bast with a wink, causing my face to go red. "I've been in this business for a long time, I know how to pick em."

Sighing, I took the paper from the cat-god's paws. In the end, there really was no choice. I signed my name, Ranma Aoba. Officially, I'd never actually dropped my original last name, but for the sake of getting me into school and getting me a job, I had been moved to Nanami's family register a while back. Another favor added to the long list of things the Aobas had done for me.

"Umeow. Good. We had a little hitch, but we wrapped it up okay in the end," said the cat-god quickly, snatching the receipt from my hands.

My mind suddenly caught up with what he said. "A hitch?"

The white cat glanced around nervously. "Well uh...don't worry about the details. Everything has been taken care of."

Moving quickly, I grabbed the cat-god by the collar, bringing him right next to my face. "Something tells me that I shouldn't believe you," I said, teeth clenched.

"Umeow! I'm just a cat god! I don't know anything!" he pleaded.

"What the- that doesn't make any sense! What kind of a god are you?" I shook him a little, causing his oversized head to wobble around like a bobble-head.

Before I could threaten more physical violence though, I felt a soft hand touch my shoulder. "Now now Ranma," chided Bast gently. "It really is just a small problem and it's kind of my fault to begin with. We'll have it taken care of soon, okay?"

I grumbled, but dropped the cat-god anyways. "You're lucky your wife is so nice."

I stood up with the intention of moving towards the kitchen for some form of drink, but was stopped by Bast's hand still on my shoulder. "Ranma, look at me for a second," she requested softly.

Hesitating slightly, I turned around, making sure to keep my gaze focused on her feline-like face, rather than her skimpily dressed body. Slowly, I could feel myself turning just a little bit red, Mikan's kiss last night still fresh in my mind.

"My my, he's made great progress already," said Bast approvingly, releasing my shoulder. Turning to the cat-god, she gave him a small smile. "See? I told you this idea would work."

The cat-god rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, now lets go before the other humans start waking up, shall we?" Jumping onto his wife's shoulder, the cat-god flared his energy, causing a blue portal to appear behind him. Before stepping through, the cat sent me a parting grin that sent shivers up my spine. "Good luck kid. You'll need it." And then they were gone, some white and gold cat hairs on the ground the only evidence they'd ever been there.

"I guess even a god has to shed," I thought humorously. Wearily, I flopped back down onto my futon, staring at the ceiling, remembering the cat-god's parting words. "Ugh, I hate foreshadowing."

* * *

A/N: There you go. Chapter two. Hoped you enjoyed it. Things are really going to start picking up in the next few chapters now that the set pieces are in place.


	9. Cat's Paw: Chapter 3

A/N: WARNING! This story is rated M for a reason. Several reasons actually, and that's all I'm going to say about that. It is not, however, against the rules of fanfiction dot net. Borderline though, definitely.

* * *

There were many creatures that one did not want to tangle with in the Golmore Jungle. Elder Baloths were at the top of the list. Their diets consisted ofplants, small woodland animals, large woodland animals, woodlands, fruit groves, fruit farmers, and small cities. Usually three full hunting parties and a half were required to bring one down.

A close second to these absolute menaces though, were the Great Malboros, creatures that infected the very land they moved upon with a distinctly recognizable taint. Their breath was definitely the worst aspect though, causing a myriad of illnesses from amnesia, poison, and rage, to nausea, confusion, and blindness. Even an Elder Baloth would be paralyzed for at least a day after consuming one.

Worse still, the damn things were quiet and sneaky as hell, despite their large size. Even the most experienced hunters were in constant peril of being taken unaware by the creatures. Without companions and a full stock of medicine, a Malboro was a death sentence for almost any lone hunter caught unaware.

It was fortunate for Mineth the the latter was not quite the case. It was due to luck, mostly, as a completely different creature had accidentally given away the Malboro's position. She'd been able to jump away in the nick of time, with the creature's foul breath only enveloping her leg, but it was enough to numb it and forestall any escape attempts.

Drawing the spear from her back, Mineth quickly dodged a follow up burst of acid that immediately began melting the forest path. Not letting up for a second, the creature sent its tentacles towards her in whip like fashion, forcing her to parry as best she could with her spear. One got through her guard and managed to knock her off balance, but a lucky slash severed the limbs, causing the monster to recoil in surprise.

With a gurgling roar, the creature charged at her, spewing its breath as it came, flora withering and dying in its wake. Mineth backpedaled as quickly as she could, but it would only buy her a few seconds at most. Shifting the grip on her spear, Mineth let it fly straight into the creature's open mouth. The perfect shot stopped the monster's charge dead cold, even as the wooden handle of the missile began rotting away.

The woman didn't waste a second and took off at full tilt down the forest path, pointedly ignoring the jolts of pain her leg gave off every time she took a step. Her only hope was to meet up with one of the patrolling hunter parties. A loud crunch indicated that the Malboro had gotten over its shock (as well as the oversized toothpick) and had now resumed its pursuit.

Gathering mana to her hand, Mineth unleashed the strongest fire spell she could, not even checking to see if it hit. If she was lucky, it would blind the creature for a bit. Then again, if she was really lucky she wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place.

There! Up ahead was a break in the canopy. The Malboro was gaining on her again, she could feel his breath on the edge of her senses. Prepping another fire spell, Mineth shot it towards the thin foliage, attempting to weaken it as much as she could. Putting pressure on her numb leg, Mineth let out a yell of pain before diving through off the trail and through the canopy. If she was lucky, she'd only suffer some broken bones. If not...well hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Closing her eyes, Mineth braced herself for pain.

* * *

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

Why was my alarm going off? Today was Sunday. Without opening my eyes, I unerringly smashed the off button, along with the alarm clock itself.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Without missing a beat, my hand grasped the remains of the first alarm clock and made a wild throw.

BEE-SMASH!

The second alarm quickly fell silent. Breathing softly I rolled back over in my bed, intent on sleeping the day away. Nanami had once asked me why I slept for so long when given the opportunity, considering how often and early I practiced martial arts. Short answer? Because I could. Long answer? Because I wanted to. Either way, nothing was getting me out of bed on my day...sniff...sniff...what was that?

Sleep began fading from my body as I sniffed the air once again. Steamed rice and grilled fish if I smelled correctly. Was Nanami cooking? Wearily I opened my eyes to stare at the cat-girl posters attached to my ceiling. Sighing, I rose from my bed. My love of food was one of the few things that could trump my love of sleep.

Shaking out my limbs I began a slow kata while listening to the noises coming from the kitchen.

"Now, use it like this."

"I see. How's the taste?"

The second voice stopped me in mid motion. A second later the memories from last night came flooding back, along with my early morning dream. And his warning. Finishing the kata, I pulled on my shirt and walked into the living room.

Mikan immediately rushed me as soon as I opened my door.

"Good morning master!" she greeted cheerfully, giving me a small bow.

My eyes immediately darted to her cat ears, but I was able to force back the initial surge of panic. "Good morning Mikan," I said carefully, giving her a once over. In addition to the clothes Nanami had given her, Mikan had donned an apron, completing the maid ensemble. Noticing my gaze, the cat girl gave a shy smile.

"Do you like it?" she asked demurely, twirling around once. The skirt flipped up, giving me a nice view of her tails, thighs, and perfectly round shaped-

I quickly averted my eyes as I realized what I was seeing. "Um, Mikan, you're not wearing any, uh...panties." I forced the word out.

"I don't really care for underwear, this skirt works just fine," she said happily.

Mikan gave a surprised yelp as Nanami suddenly appeared behind her, grabbing the cat-girl in a headlock. "Oh no you don't. Your little shy act may work on him, but not me. Soon as we're done eating, we're going shopping, you got that?" she asked the struggling cat-girl.

"Miyah!" she protested cutely, trying to break Nanmi's hold.

Ignoring the drama unfolding in front of me, I decided to sit down at the table and concentrate on eating. Priorities after all. Grabbing my chopsticks I expertly dished myself up and began eating at my usual superhuman level of speed. Despite all of the times Nanami's mother had tried to train me otherwise, Saotome speed eating was a habit that had been ingrained into me since birth. One thing they did manage though was to give me some form of class, so even though I was eating super fast, it was...almost neat.

"Wow, that was great," I said honestly as I polished off the last of the meal.

Mikan finally slipped from Nanami's hold. "You're finished already?" She looked in wonder at my empty plate.

Nanami rolled her eyes. "Saotome speed eating strikes again. Only God knows if he actually tastes the food."

"Don't listen to her Mikan, your food tasted fine." The cat-girl beamed under the praise. As Nanami and Mikan dished themselves up, my mind wandered back to the cat-god's warning again. Stupid god, why couldn't he be more specific?

"Hey Mikan, did anything strange happen during the ritual to send you here?" I asked finally.

One of Mikan's ears flicked back. "Strange?"

"Yeah you know, like temporal anomalies, trans-dimensional breaches, rips in the fabric of the space-time continuum?"

Mikan blinked as she processed my question. "Ummm..."

"Did the cat-god swear at all?"

Mikan's eyes brightened. "Oh! He said something about 'god damn temporal mechanics' and how quantum physics weren't in his job description. And something about a 'pain in the ass.' But then his wife told him some things about liability and he seemed to calm down."

Groaning, I let my head fall to the table. Well that cinched it. The cat-god was officially on my hit list. I know nothing bad had happened yet, and maybe I was looking too far into this, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that all of this was going to blow up in my face.

"Did I do something wrong?" Mikan asked sadly. "I'll do better I promise! Please don't make me leave."

Her eyes looked to be on the verge of tears which immediately triggered my 'manly' reflex. "No no! It's not your fault. You're doing great! You can stay here as long as you want!" I assured her quickly.

The quivering gaze disappeared almost immediately. "Thank you master!" Her eyes were positively sparkling by this point.

Nanami shot the cat-girl a half-lidded stare. "I honestly can't tell if she's doing that on purpose or not."

"Doing what?" asked Mikan innocently.

"Oh can it. I don't care if she stays here but YOU," I flinched backwards as she suddenly pointed her finger at my nose. "had better stay in your own room, you got that?"

"Yes ma'am." Grabbing my cup of tea, I took a long drink.

"So Mikan, are you a cat that's part girl, or a girl that's part cat?"

"Mikan is a girl before she's a cat. See?" Without any warning whatsoever, Mikan flipped up her skirt.

Pssssssshhhhht!

That was the sound of me spitting a mouthful of tea across the table.

"Definitely need to get you some panties," deadpanned Nanami as she began wiping up the tea with a rag.

* * *

There are very few things that I outright hate in this world. Near the top would probably be letting good food go to waste, but a close second to that would definitely have to be shopping. Every couple of months or so, Nanami would take it upon herself to shoot some doe eyes my direction and force me on a trip with the sole purpose of destroying every thread of dignity I had. Of course, after today's incident, it's hard to say if I'd ever be able to salvage those threads again. Let me give you a piece of advice. When confronted with a lingerie store, the kryptonite of man, there is no safe place within ten meters. Actually, waiting outside the store might be even more embarrassing then just going inside. The latter might make you a pervert, but the former subjects you to all the knowing looks and smug grins of the people passing by. I was going to have to think up a suitable revenge for this later, especially since I had to endure this torture for thirty minutes.

"Master Ranma!"

"Ranma," I corrected automatically.

"Master Ranma, I got some panties, see?" Without any warning, she flipped up her skirt before I could look away, giving me a brief look at a pair of lacy sky-blue undergarments.

WHAP! "Rowr!"

"Mikan, what did I say about doing that?" asked Nanami curtly, preparing her hand for another strike.

"Only by myself in the privacy of my home and out of view of Master Ranma," repeated Mikan dutifully, rubbing her head. "But it's a maid's duty to seek the approval of their master concerning clothes."

" _Ranma_ is not going to be seeing those types of clothes, remember?" For an instant I could have sworn that Nanami's battle aura had popped into existence.

"I remember."

"Good. Now let's go shopping for some other clothes as well."

"I don't need anything more than my maid outfit," protested the cat-girl once again.

Nanami rubbed her head. "Ugh. Ranma?"

I picked up on the silent message. "Uh, Mikan? It would really make me happy if you had some spare clothes around."

"Okay Master Ranma!" Grabbing my hand, Mikan forcefully pulled me towards the next store in the line. A cosplay shop. Ho boy.

* * *

"This is the supermarket I shop at," I explained as we continued walking through the shopping district. "Not the best selection, but it's cheap." Unlike all the other things we purchased today. I mean, my god, the lingerie alone must have cost at least five times the amount of any one of my normal outfits, never mind the clothes (or rather costumes) she'd acquired.

"Do you remember how you got here?" quizzed Nanami.

Mikan thought for a minute before pointing out the various buildings. "That's the restaurant you work at, that's an office supply store, and our house is over that way."

Good, now she won't get lost. One more worry off my back. Speaking of work though... "I've got to get going Nanami. You think you'll be able to lift all these by yourself?"

Nanami smacked me lightly on the head. "We didn't get that much you big baby. We'll be fine."

Patting Mikan briefly on the head, much to her delight, I handed the bags off to Nanami and dodged into the store.

* * *

Excelion is always busy. We're I not the person I was, it might have been too much for just two people. To me, it was just a challenge.

"Tables three, five, and seven have been served, table two is waiting for their order," I fired off while swiftly serving the dishes on the five trays I was carrying. Part of the popularity came from me, I guess. People were curious about the one man who could keep a whole restaurant satisfied by himself, although it probably didn't hurt that the food was good and owner was gorgeous.

"Sure is busy here," said the owner quietly.

"Nothing I can't handle."

"Even so, you're here almost every day." She had a cute pout on her face now. "If you find anyone else who needs a job, you should tell me so I can give you a break once in a while."

Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have some time off every now and again, and she could probably use some help cooking as well. I could always use more training I suppose. Giving her a nod of reassurance, I grabbed the ready orders and fell into my 'zen' of working. Hours later, the sun had gone down and peace had finally arrived. Only a couple customers remained, enjoying some coffee after their meal.

"Coffee?" I offered the boss.

"Thanks. Get one yourself too."

Leaning on the counter, I distractedly listened to the customer's conversation.

"Hey, did you hear about that explosion that happened downtown?"

"Of course, who hasn't! The damn thing is all over the news."

"Was anyone hurt?" asked a third customer, joining in.

"That's the crazy thing, it's like nothing was even damaged at all!"

"Then it wasn't an explosion?"

"No no! It was, I swear! Saw the damn thing myself! It was like a big ball of fire, and then...nothing."

I'm not usually a person who jumps to conclusions, but all the warning signs were pointing in the. direction of my beneficial deity having his hand in this. Intentionally or not was irrelevant.

"Where did you say this happened?" I asked casually, joining their conversation.

"Just downtown," said the first man excitedly, eager to retell the story.

Sighing, I polished off my cup and threw the rag I was carrying in the laundry basket. "Hey boss, do you have things here? There's something I need to go check out."

"Okay, don't forget the meal for your little fellows," she said cheerfully, handing me a big bag.

* * *

Noises deafened her. Smells washed over her. Unfamiliar colors assaulted her vision, and yet pain was mysteriously absent. Odd.

Getting up from her prone position, Mineth gasped as fire shot through her leg. Apparently not all the pain was gone. Her body felt weaker than normal too. Something else was missing though...the Malboro!

Struggling to her feet, Mineth glanced around wildly for her foe, but saw nothing. The only question that remained was where was she? The place looked similar to the human cities described to her by her sisters in the forest, but still...

Shaking her head to clear it, Mineth looked around and spied a metal rod. Grasping it tightly, she finally steadied herself, using the pole as a crutch. Wherever she was, she needed to find shelter. Night seemed to be falling quickly and there was no way of knowing just how cold this place could get, nor was there any way to tell just how strong the Malboro venom was. Depending on its age, the venom could last a couple hours or a couple days.

Gripping the pole tightly, Mineth slowly began hobbling her way down the narrow street.

CRACK! CRASH!

With a yelp, Mineth awkwardly leaped out of the way in time as the wall next to her burst outward, revealing the foe she had previously tried her best to escape from. Cursing to herself, Mineth desperately tried to regain her footing, but her limbs were fatigued and not agreeing with her. Breath spewed forth. There was no time to dodge. She took in a mouthful that sent her to her knees. Dimly, she noticed the creatures limbs reaching out towards her. Mineth didn't close her eyes, rather she fought to keep them open.

It had been a good run, and she would stare death in the face.

"KIJIN RASHUU DAN!"

* * *

I only had to stare at the scene for two seconds to realize that this was all the cat-god's fault. Granted, I had never really paid that much attention in school, but even I knew that multi-eyed, sharp teethed tentacle monsters weren't exactly native to Japan.

Nor was the... person it was attacking either. The bunny ears were a dead giveaway.

Bounding over the rooftops as quickly as I could, I shouted out my attack, hoping to draw its attention.

"KIJIN RASHUU DAN!"

The appendages reaching for the woman were instantly cut, sending the monster reeling back. Without giving the thing time to recover, I scooped up the coughing and sputtering girl and leaped towards the rooftops.

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, not taking my eyes off of the thing. I didn't get a response. Wasn't expecting one really. She looked to be in rather bad shape. The monster had recovered now and had locked onto my position. Moving much faster than it appeared capable of, the thing scurried towards me, scaling the building wall effortlessly.

Thinking quickly, I jumped over to an adjacent roof, gently placing the bunny-girl out of sight.

"Wait!" I paused in mid jump as she tried speaking through her coughing fit. "Malboro...careful of...breath."

Giving her a reassuring nod, I leaped back over to the other building just in time to see the Malboro crest over the side. Not giving the creature time to orient itself, I aimed a kick at one of the creatures eyes before rebounding off the creature's head. Falling back to mid-range I unleashed double vacuum blades, but this time the thing was ready.

Inhaling deeply, the creature let lose one of the most foul things I'd ever smelled. My attack died on the wind as the gas seemed to still the air while the concrete beneath me was starting to crumble into dust. Even without the girl's warning, there was no way I'd have gotten anywhere near that toxic cloud. Even my senses were revolting at the wrongness of its breath.

And yet the damn thing was charging at me, right through its own cloud of toxic waste. That probably meant the thing was tough as hell. The vacuum blades were almost useless against the damn thing since the air seemed to die around its breath. Thinking quickly, and praying that the janitor had went home for the day, I threw a blade into the already crumbling roof.

Although I was expecting it, it was still a bit disorienting to see just how quickly the roof had deteriorated to allow the collapse. I was prepared however, and launched myself towards the monster as we fell. Before the Malboro hit the ground, I was there.

"DOKUJA TANKETSU SHO!"

I'd hdan't actually used the technique on a living being before, but the explosion of fluids from the creature's mouth told me I'd done it right. Capitalizing on its stunned state, I followed up with a vacuum blade to one of its eyes, severing it completely.

Anticipating its breath technique, I punched through the floor, dropping down to the next level, even as its breath consumed the office area above me. If the same pattern followed...

CRASH!

Quickly, I jumped out of the way as the ceiling above fell through, bringing the Malboro with it. Again, I was ready. Calculating its point of impact, I pushed myself off the ground and kicked the the things underside. It was heavier than I expected, my blow barely being able to keep the thing airborne, but it was enough as I immediately jumped to its elevation and pounded its head, sending it through another floor.

Pausing for a bit to give it a head start, I jumped after it, bringing as much ki into my right hand as I could. The thing hit the ground on the bottom floor, dazing it just long enough for my finishing blow.

"DOKUJA TANKETSU SHO!"

I aimed at the area below its mouth, hoping I was hitting a throat area. My gamble was rewarded as the thing gave out a loud ear-splitting screech before stilling altogether, a trace of acid leaking from its still open mouth. This wasn't something I was willing to take a chance on though, so I immediately leaped away and and used my other finisher.

"SAIDAIKYU KIJIN RAISHU DAN!"

Several vacuum blades combined into one, aimed at the open mouth of the monstrosity. The air pressure was great enough to not only split the Malboro in half, but also gouge the wall behind it. Acid spilled from the things corpse, burning straight through the stone and into the foundation. Hopefully the place was insured.

Panting heavily, I backed up against the wall behind me and slowly slid down. While I had used the Yamasenken schools against it, the techniques left me feeling weaker than normal. Almost as if the things very presence was hampering me.

Speaking of...

My ears alerted me to a small rumble in the ground. Two possibilities sprung to mind. Either an earthquake was occurring right at that very moment, or...

Forcing my tired body into action, I ran and dived through the window, just as the Malboro exploded into a cloud of toxins and gas.

Aside from my vision being slightly blurry, my body being very fatigued, and my mind fuzzy, I was actually in pretty good shape. The same could not be said for the building though. After the Malboro's last burst, the foundation had crumbled, leaving the building little more than a pile of concrete and office supplies.

Trying not to strain my muscles too much, I carefully made my way up the fire escape to where I had hid the girl. If she was the result of the cat god's meddling then she probably was a lot like Mikan, having no place to stay and no idea where she was.

Grunting lightly, I reached the top of the roof and got my first look at the girl I'd rescued. And then, I quickly had to fight down a blush.

Simply put, she was beautiful. Light bronze skin, long silver hair, a well endowed bosom, and a pair of soft white bunny ears that painted her as an exotic beauty, with little in the way of modesty. Her clothing was an interesting cross between silver and pink, covering the important bits, but leaving several areas of skin exposed, such as her entire belly and long portions of her legs. Even with my hazy vision, I could tell that the woman had a timeless quality about her.

Shaking myself out of the daze, I slowly knelt next to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The woman coughed harshly before fixing her red eyes on me. "The Malboro?" she asked.

"Dead."

"Where -cough- am I?"

"In a place called Japan. Do you remember how you got here?" I asked gently.

"Fighting Malboro," she said unsteadily. "Falling...and then...was here."

"What's your name, where do you come from?" I asked, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead. She was burning up.

"Mineth...Golmore Jungle."

"Can you stand?" I asked gently. "We need to get you off this building."

She tried, but stumbled almost immediately. Bending down, I offered my back. "Climb on," I ordered. The bunny girl hesitated for only a second before complying.

* * *

Inhaling any amount of Malboro toxin was equivalent to playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun of random bullets. Some would kill, some would be non-lethal, while others could have long lasting effects.

This however, only dimly registered in the back of Mineth's mind as her body began to heat up and her breaths started to get deeper. She was becoming increasingly aware of her breasts rubbing against her rescuer's back and his hands gently gripping her thighs.

"Just hang on a little longer," came his voice, carried on the wind. Mineth tried to respond but it only came out as a soft breath over his ear, causing her carrier to shudder. Wrapping her arms tightly around her neck, Mineth rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to fight down the urges brought on by the Malboro's toxins.

* * *

Mineth was not making this easy. Whether intentional or not, everything she was doing was driving my mind into a frenzy. She was constantly shifting her position, rubbing her generous body against mine every time I jumped. Her breaths were coming out in short sensual gasps, every one flowing gently across my ears.

-SMACK-

That was me giving myself a mental slap. Mineth had just taken a mouthful of that damn toxin, she could be close to death for all I knew. Now _really_ wasn't the time to be thinking about things like that. Actually, why was I thinking about this in the first place? All I knew about this girl was her name and that she had been on the wrong end of the Cat God's spell.

My apartment was ahead so I put on an extra burst of speed and dashed into my room. It struck me as odd that neither Nanami or Mikan were in the complex, but I wasn't about to question my good fortune. It had been bad enough when I'd brought Mikan home. Shaking off the odd feeling of dejavu, I placed Mineth on my bed and grabbed my personal first aid kit.

Nanami had once seen my emergency kit and called me paranoid. I preferred to think of it as being efficient. The wilds held many dangers, from large animals, to small poisonous insects. When you're miles away from any form of civilization, any form of sickness could mean a death sentence. Even when we'd been out of food, my father always had a fully stocked medical kit.

It was fortunate now that the habit had stayed with me. The Malboro's toxins were alien to me, but I'd never been a specialist on toxins to begin with. Hoping that the bunny-girl's immune system was similar to a humans, I grabbed a couple shots of standard anti-venom and administered a shot to myself, sighing in relief as my vision started to clear and feeling began coming back to my limbs.

Staggering back over to my bed, I gave the shot to Mineth, letting out another sigh as her breathing normalized and her body relaxed. The fever was still present though, so I packed up the kit and went to the kitchen to grab a wet cloth. When I returned, her eyes were open.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hot," she whispered softly. Giving a low moan, Mineth rubbed the sweat off her brow, slowly moving to a sitting position.

"Hey, take it easy. You've got a really bad fever."

Moving close to her, I placed a hand on her shoulder, intent on guiding her back down into a laying position. The minute my skin made contact with hers though, something snapped. Her body seemed to freeze up for a single moment before her hand darted out and grasped my own.

"Mineth?" I asked uncertainly.

Her eyes locked with mine. Gently, I tried to pull my hand back, but her grip was like steel.

"So...hot."

Before I knew what was happening, the bunny-girl's other arm had snaked around my waist. With a surprising amount of strength and speed, I was lifted off my feet and thrown onto the bed. Her legs whipped around, straddling my waist, pressing our most private areas together. I tried briefly to struggle back up, but Mineth simply held me tighter, grinding her hips into mine as she lowered herself to my face, pressing her soft, barely concealed assets against my chest.

"Hot..." she said, almost trance-like. She was inches away now, every breath she took fluttering across my face.

"Mineth, wai-"

She didn't wait. Taking advantage of my opening, the bunny-girl smashed her soft lips against my own, her tongue pushing its way into my mouth. My lack of participation didn't seem to faze her either, as she continued to swirl her tongue around my mouth, as if marking her territory.

It must have been seconds but it seemed like minutes before she finally broke away, trailing a thin line of saliva as she did. Panting almost as heavily as she was, I once again tried breaking free, but whether it was from my weakness or her strength, her grip held. Slowly, as if not even noticing my struggles, she slid her hips against mine again, causing me to blush as she made me painfully aware of my own warmth.

She was smiling now, slowly trailing a hand down my shirt, heading towards my pants. Wide eyed and ready to die of embarrassment, I resumed my struggles, bucking my hips to try and gain some leverage against her.

My efforts only made her smile more.

With a quick jerk, my pants and boxers fell away in tatters, exposing me to the world. Mineth's gaze seemed positively predatory now as she eyed my body up and down. Leaning forward once again, the bunny-girl began rubbing her damp almost-undergarments against my bare skin, sending all sorts of unfamiliar yet not completely unpleasant sensations throughout my body.

Her hands were moving again, worming their way underneath my shirt, her long nails leaving small red marks against my skin. With a quick swipe, the fabric split, exposing my bare chest. Just as quickly, the bunny-girl's hands went to her chest covering, undoing it in seconds and letting it fall away, exposing her perfectly shaped bronze colored-

I quickly averted my head and closed my eyes before my embarrassment reached a singularity, but Mineth would have none of that. Leaning down, she forced me into another kiss, her whole body rubbing sensually against mine.

She was speeding up now, gyrating her hips faster and faster. An unfamiliar feeling was starting to pool in my gut that I couldn't identify. Mineth must have been experiencing something similar, as her short sharp breaths were matching my own.

Faster now. Something was about to give. Her kiss deepened. My vision began to blur again. Faster still.

And then, she gave one particularly hard thrust, arching her back as she let out a deep throaty moan that made my body explode. I wasn't sure what was happening. I wasn't really sure that I cared. I felt...released, as if someone had just let lose a dam.

"Feels...better," said Mineth softly, a look of relief on her face, before promptly collapsing on top of me. I must have laid there for five minutes, gently holding the almost nude bunny-girl in my arms, trying to discern just what the hell had happened, but my mind kept coming up blank.

Finally my self-preservation sense kicked me in the brain and told me to get out of the room before anyone saw me. It was bad enough the first time Nanami walked in and saw me with a naked girl in my room, and this scene was eternally more damning than that.

Fortunately, my earlier weakness was wearing off somewhat. Moving carefully, I began maneuvering out from under the bunny-girl, doing my utmost to ignore her sighs as I inevitably brushed against some of her more sensitive areas. After a single tense minute, I had succeeded in getting out from under her.

Unfortunately, the bunny-girl's own strength had in no way abated. The minute I tried to pull away, her arms tightened around me, pulling me back down into her...uh...ah...

"I'm home!"

That was Mikan's voice.

God, or rather the Cat God, officially hated me, or he was taking some sort of almighty vengeance out upon me. Vindictive little monster. At least it was only Mikan. She'd be a lot more reasonable than-

"Hey Ranma, you back yet?"

Okay, time to panic. Even I could tell how bad this scene looked. Okay, think. The Malboro had pretty much sapped my strength, making Mineth noticeably stronger than me. So what did I normally do when trying to against stronger opponents?

The answer was painfully obvious. Had I not been uh...distracted, I probably would have though of it sooner. Moving slowly, I placed my fingers on the joints between her shoulders, and pressed. For a second, an evil whisper in my mind warned me that bunny-girl physiology might be different from humans, but eventually her grip slackened and her arms fell away.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly extracted myself from the bed. Now all I had to do was change my clothes, cover my...guest, and get Nanami out of my apartment. Piece of cake right?

"Guess he's not home yet."

"May as well get dinner started. He can't be too much longer."

Okay, so I'd have to get out my window and come in the front. Still, piece of cake, as long as no one decided to look-

"Oh, I must have left my apron in Master Ranma's room."

God dammit, the cake was a lie, and not even my speed could stop Miakn from opening that door. The cat-girl probably had about half a second to be surprised before I'd materialized in front of her, pulled her into the room, and closed the door, covering her "eek" of surprise with my hand.

"Mikan," I began softly, trying to ignore her squirming, "I know this looks bad, but it's really not what it looks like, okay?"

Her squirming stilled and I felt her head nod. Slowly, I removed my hand. Good, there was still a chance to salvage this mess.

"Alright, grab your apron and tell Nanami that I'm not home yet. I'll change my clothes and go out through the window..." I trailed off as I realized that Mikan's eyes had taken on a familiar glaze and her gaze had fixated on a certain part of my body.

"Uh...Mikan?" She took a step closer. I took a step back.

"Master Ranma...smells nice," she said dreamily. I took another step back. She took another step forward.

Her tail was twitching from side to side, as though she was about to pounce. Her ears were raised and attentive, focused on my position, and her small pink tongue was slowly moving over her lips. She took another step forward. My legs hit the edge of the bed. Crap.

At this point, I was ready to take the window, shredded clothing or not. If Nanami saw this, I'd probably die of embarrassment long before she had a chance to kill me. Without a second thought to my modesty, I darted towards the closed window, intent on doing my best Matrix impression. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated one small yet rather vital detail.

Mikan was a CAT-girl, complete with reflexes and instincts.

The minute I took a step towards the window, Mikan pounced with all the grace and agility her parent race was famous for. One second I was running, and the next my vision was filled with a cute, amorous cat-girl rubbing her cheek against mine with her legs wrapped around my waist and her full body purrs sending shivers down my spine.

Frantically, I tried to keep my balance, but it was a hopeless endeavor. I fell roughly onto my bed, partly on top of Mineth. Amazingly, it didn't seem to wake her, but at the same time, her arms wrapped themselves around me, pulling me close and pressing her generous assets against my back.

Mikan didn't even seem to notice the other person, instead deciding to take advantage of my restrained state to begin cleaning the sweat off my face in true cat style. There was little I could do except lay there and endure the exquisite torture. Mineth had my arms pinned at my sides while Mikan had her weight pressed against me and her legs tangled with mine, running her rough tongue up and down my face.

Slowly, her caresses moved towards my mouth as her hands moved down my back. Roughly, she licked my lips, as if demanding entrance. Blushing furiously, I tried to deny her, feeling my own sanity slowly ebb away as the Neko-ken instincts flared within me, disturbingly clear on what I should be doing with a willing cat-girl prostrating herself before me. Amazingly, the fear I normally felt in conjunction with the Neko-ken was almost non-existant, being replaced by something...entirely different.

The revelation was short lived though, as Mikan's hands had reached a sweet spot on my back, causing me to groan in satisfaction. Capitalizing on the opening, Mikan kissed me for all I was worth. I couldn't tell how long she held my mouth captive, only that she had to breathe eventually. I had perhaps a second to take in a breath before she attacked again, deepening the kiss, seemingly putting her entire body into the motion.

Behind me, the bunny-girl stirred in her sleep, tightening her grip on my chest and throwing one of her bronze colored legs across my waist. I was well and truly trapped. Mikan seemed to realize this and brought one of her hands out from behind my back, slowly trailing it down my ripped shirt. My panicked look only seemed to encourage her, as she gave a small grin and paused in her movement, inches away from my shredded boxers.

"Mikan!" I whispered harshly, trying (and failing) to hide my...condition. Her grin only got wider as her hand went lower-

"Hey Mikan what's taking you so-"

The sound of the door opening echoed like thunder in my ears. On one hand, my virginity was safe for another day, despite the best efforts of the overly amorous demi-humans on my bed. On the other hand...

"Ranma?" Nanami's voice was eerily calm. "What the hell is going on here?"

I wasn't really sure what to say at this point, so I went with my old standby.

"Would you believe that this was a complete accident and in absolutely no way my fault?" I tried hopefully.

She was silent for a very long second. I could imagine her staring at the scene, at the bare breasted bunny-girl pressed against my back, at the simply clothed cat-girl attached to my front with her hand near dangerous territory, and my own self with shredded clothing.

"No Ranma. No, I don't."

Damn. Well, can't say I didn't try.

* * *

A/N: For those of you that don't know (or haven't taken the time to look through the reviews and find someone who does know), this story is a semi-crossover with an old visual novel from Japan. Which one? Well...that's not important. Really. Just remember that this is M rated for a reason.

Mineth is an original character from a very obvious game. If you can't tell which one (or at least have an idea) then you automatically lose two points to your nerd quotient. Also, yes. I do believe Malboros are quite stealthy. How else would they freaking ambush you all the time?

Last but not least, the "Flamers" forum has started up again with a brand new name and all new threads. Go check it out if you're interested in getting in-depth reviews for your own stories, and make sure to check out the thread "The Fanfic Critic." Speaking of reviews, all comments and criticisms are welcome and appreciated.

Till next time.


	10. Cat's Paw: Chapter 4

A/N: And with that, Cat's Paw has outstripped all my other stories in every way except for hits and reviews, although if I write another fifteen chapters, it's only a matter of time. But until that time comes, please enjoy Cat's Paw, chapter four.

* * *

I wasn't really sure what Nanami was planning to do now that she'd seen this...situation, but I was still rather surprised when she just turned and left the room, leaving the door open. Before I could fathom what she was thinking, I heard the telltale signs of water running from the sink.

Seconds later she was back, this time with a very full glass of water. Never deviating from her neutral expression, Nanami upended the glass on Mikan's head, causing me to wince both at her ear-splitting yowl and claws digging into my chest. It had the desired effect though, as Mikan's eyes suddenly regained focus, along with a healthy color of red from our position.

Almost faster than my eye could track, Mikan had jumped off the bed, grabbed her apron, and dashed from the room, leaving me with Nanami giving me an evil eye.

"Would you like a glass?" she asked sweetly.

Adrenaline surged through my body, helping me break free of Mineth's grip. Zipping over to my dresser, I quickly pulled out a set of clothes, changing faster than I'd ever had before, barely showing more than a flash of skin.

"So, is this another _gift_ from the cat-god? Or is it a bunny-god this time?"

I ignored her quip, deciding that my time was better spent buttoning my shirt and pushing her out of the room, loudly shutting the door behind me.

* * *

"So...you went downtown to check out an explosion..."

"Right."

"...fought something called a Malboro..."

"Right."

"...and found a bunny-girl who immediately starting molesting you the minute you brought her here..."

"Right."

"...and you really expect me to believe that?"

I groaned and palmed my face in exasperation. A quiet cough behind me alerted me to my cat-maid coming back with tea. Giving a grateful smile, I took a cup and a long drink before she scurried back to the kitchen, probably doing her best to stay away from Nanami's aura.

Resisting the urge to sigh, I tried to think of a way to prove myself. One side of me just wanted to ignore the whole thing. Why did I have to prove myself to her anyways? It's not like she had any control over who I...er...well, yeah. The answer to that was easy though. I didn't like being thought of as a pervert. Even so, how was I going to prove it when no one else had-

Wait a second, I just destroyed an entire building. There's no way no one hadn't noticed it. Grabbing the television remote, I flipped on the TV. Since I never watched the thing, it was already defaulted to the news channel.

"...standing in front of the remains of an office building that was once owned by the company Fairy Tale." The camera zoomed out to give a wide view of the building that seemed to have simply collapsed in on itself. "The cause is still unknown, but bystanders reported several gasses coming from the building before its collapse. The going theory at this time is a gas explosion but-"

I shut the set off and looked at Nanami expectantly. She rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, so the malboro might be real, but I'm still trying to figure out how a fight downtown turned into a threesome ten minutes later."

* * *

"Nothing happened!" I thought about that for a second. "Well...nothing like what you're thinking!"

"It's true," said Mikan quietly from behind Nanami. "Ranma's still a virgin."

I groaned and let my head drop on the table. Thanks for that Mikan, and if I came through this situation with my dignity intact, we were going to have a long talk about the kinds of things you shouldn't say to a guy's sister.

"Well, thank god for small miracles," said Nanami sarcastically. "So, why did this one want to jump you? Was she affected by the heat too?"

"Hey, it was the malboro's fault," I protested. "That stupid toxin did something to her head."

"And you, a martial artist who can wave his hands in the air and turn trees into matchsticks, couldn't overpower the cute amorous bunny-girl?"

"She wasn't the only one who fought that damn thing. I got a mouthful of the stuff too."

Nanami gave me a half-lidded stare. "So are you about to jump someone then?"

"No!"

"Oh so the toxin is selective then?"

"Yes." Mikan had rejoined the conversation, nursing a cup of her own tea.

"Wait, so those things are from your realm?" asked Nanami

Mikan thought about it for a minute. "Not exactly. I think they're from a neighboring realm we call the bunny kingdom."

"How original."

"I've never seen one," continued the cat-girl, "but I've heard that their toxin can have any number of horrible effects."

Letting out a sigh, Nanami flopped backwards onto the ground. "Okay, fine. I believe you. So what do you plan on doing with your newest stray?"

I sighed and mimicked Nanami's position, resting on the ground and looking at the ceiling. "I have no clue. The cat god said it was a one way trip, but she's not even from the same realm as Nanami." And for some strange reason, I kind of doubted that they held the same deity. "I wonder if there's a way to contact the bunny-god."

"The cat-god has a facebook page," said Mikan helpfully.

I blinked. Somehow I wasn't nearly as surprised as I should have been. "Does he post the secrets of breaking the space-time continuum on his blog?"

Mikan thought about it for a minute. "No, usually he just shows pictures of himself at the beach or the mountains with Bast."

"I take it there aren't a whole lot of religious wars in your world," deadpanned Nanami.

"No, it's a very peaceful place."

"Yes, that's really interesting, but what are we going to do about our newest house guest?" I interrupted.

"You brought her here. What were you planning on doing?"

"Give her a room for the night, finding out how far out of her home dimension she is, and seeing if any more of those creatures came through with her," I responded simply. What else was I supposed to do?

Nanami sighed. "You know we're already stretching the rules of this apartment with Mikan staying here. These rooms were only meant for one person."

"Then I'll get her a job so she can get her own room." I said determinedly. "I know we have the space."

"You're starting to develop a habit of picking up strays, you know that?"

"Maybe I am. Probably because I used to be one."

That brought her up short. I hadn't meant to sound accusatory, but the visible flinch on Nanami's face told me I'd unintentionally hit a sore spot.

"Look, it's not that big of a deal," she said a bit hurriedly. "You'd probably have to have a dozen people living in this room before mom would start complaining."

I gave her a small smile. "I certainly hope the cat-god didn't screw up that badly." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the cat-maid looking slightly apprehensive. All the talk about apartment space was probably getting to her again. Not for the first time, I wondered what had happened back on her home world to make her so skittish? Thinking quickly, I pulled Mikan into a one-armed hug. "Although if Mineth is anything like Mikan, I'm not going to complain."

Nanami nodded thoughtfully, catching on to my play. "True. She does pull her weight around here, and she's definitely a better cook than you." Mikan turned bright red at this and politely excused herself to the kitchen to see to the food.

In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think how odd it was that Mikan could act so shy normally, and yet so ready to pounce on me given the right conditions. "Hey, I'd like to see how well you cook on a campfire."

The light bickering helped to soothe the somewhat tense atmosphere and by the time Mikan came around with the food, the conversation had left the issue of Mineth behind. Although that didn't stop Mikan from being the most interesting conversation topic at the table.

"So you share a border with the bunny kingdom?" asked Nanami.

"Yep. Along with the dog kingdom."

Now there was an interesting bit of geography. "The cat kingdom is next to the dog kingdom? That can't be very peaceful."

"Oh no, we're actually on very good terms. A lot of our police force comes from the dog kingdom too."

Dogs policing cats? I guess that made sense...

"Have you ever been to the other kingdoms?"

"Once or twice," affirmed the cat-girl. "The bunny kingdom is a great vacation spot. They've got resorts, casinos, and nice hotels too."

"Do they have a bunny-god?" asked Nanami jokingly.

"Goddess," corrected Mikan. "She has a facebook page too if you want to look at it."

Making a mental note to never ever make an account on facebook, I shook my head. "Maybe later."

"You know it's amazing that they have any followers at all," said Nanami snidely.

"Oh she's got almost four-thousand followers on twitter."

* * *

After dinner, Nanami left briefly and returned with a futon and pillow, taking great care to place it as far away from Mikan's sleeping place as possible. After shooting one last warning glance at the cat-girl, she left, quietly closing the door behind her.

Letting out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, I rolled my shoulders and neck, working out the kinks, wincing, as the scratches Mikan had given me chose that moment to flare up. Damn. Apparently that toxin was taking up all my healing energy. Usually I bounced back from scratches like these in seconds. Oh well, not like I was a stranger to pain.

Mikan, however, had not missed my grimace. Before I could start removing my vest, the cat-maid had quickly moved in front of me and began unbuttoning it. "Are you feeling okay master Ranma?" she asked demurely.

"Just fine," I said quickly. A little too quickly it seemed, as Mikan continued her task, revealing my white undershirt, slightly stained with a few spots of blood. Eyes widening slightly, Mikan hurriedly relieved me of my clothing, despite my protests.

Honestly, the four bright red marks across my chest looked a lot worse than they felt. However, it was bad enough to send Mikan into a panic.

"I-I'm so sorry Ran- Master Ranma, a-are you- I am-"

"Mikan."

"I-I-I didn't mean- I mean, I didn't want to, I mean-"

"Mikan!"

"Please don't let me go, I'll try harder, I won't touch you at-"

"MIKAN!"

Her stuttering cut off abruptly as I grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look into my eyes.

"Y-yes?" she asked meekly.

"I'm okay. Now, there's a first aid kit in my room. Can you get it for me please?"

"O-of course!"

Moving as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Mineth, she ran into my room, returning seconds later with the already opened medical kit. Before I could assure her that I could care for myself, she was already dabbing at my scratches with a cotton swab. Her hands were steady but I could tell she was nervous by the constant motion of her tail and the twitch of her ears.

That, in turn, was making me more than a little nervous, provoking my flee on sight instinct a bit more than was comfortable. I was just about to physically move away from her touch when Mikan's voice cut through my dilemma.

"Ranma, why are you afraid of cats?"

I blinked at the unexpected question. "Huh?"

"When Bast sent me here, she told me to be careful around you and go slow so you wouldn't be afraid of me," she said quite frankly. I blushed a little in embarrassment. Minus the cat parts, Mikan was about as frightening and dangerous as a pile of feathers.

"She never did tell me why though," she continued on, her nervousness slowly disappearing as she talked.

"It's...not something I like to talk about," I got out after a moments hesitation.

Mikan only smiled and nodded. "You can tell me when you're ready."

The silence continued but my mind was abuzz with thoughts. I'd never told anyone the full extent of the neko-ken training. Even Nanami's mother only thought I simply had a bad experience once or twice as a child. My constant meditations, trainings, and self-discipline had helped to hide just how bad my phobia really was.

"I was...four when it happened," I began shakily. Almost without my consent, the words started coming out. "My...dad wanted me to be the greatest martial artist in the world to carry on his legacy, so when he took me from home to go on a training trip, he was searching everywhere for legendary training grounds, renowned teachers, and unbeatable techniques."

Mikan finished cleaning my wounds and slowly packed up the med-kit as I talked.

"He was a thief, and a good one too. One night, he lifted several scrolls from some sort of monastery, full of techniques that were deemed too dangerous to teach. Didn't stop him though. He found one that only worked on very young kids called the c-cat fist."

Shakily, I let out a breath to calm my nerves. I hadn't stuttered on saying the c-word in a long time. As if sensing my distress, Miakn moved around to my back and began rubbing my shoulders with her tiny hands. Unconsciously, I could feel myself relaxing. Encouraged, I continued my story.

"It was supposed to be unbeatable. It said that the technique would turn anyone into an unstoppable warrior when in the presence of cats. The training was simple. Bind the trainee from head to foot in fish sausage and toss him into a pit of starving cats."

The massage stopped for a single second before continuing, albeit a bit slower this time. "What happened?" she asked softly.

I shuddered at the recollection. Dozens of yellow eyes staring at me as I was slowly lowered into the pit. Claws tearing at me from every angle. Sharp teeth, grasping the offered food, then biting the skin when there was none left. I remembered screaming myself horse. I couldn't find the words for it.

"It didn't work," I said instead, shaking off the dark thoughts as best I could. "The minute I saw a c-cat after getting out of that pit, I panicked and ran. My dad...thought he did something wrong, so he tried it...two more times, using different foods and keeping me down there longer each time."

Mikan stopped her massage, and entwined her arms around my neck, hugging me softly from behind, resting her head on my shoulder. It was...comforting.

"After the third attempt, I...snapped. I don't know what happened, but the clearing I woke in was completely leveled and there was blood everywhere. Pops...never told me whose it was."

There was more to the story of course, such as the repressed memories of my childhood, and my decision to run away from my father six years later, but I wasn't ready to talk about those things just yet. I found it amazing that I was able to talk about this much, considering I'd only known Mikan for little more than a day. Something about her just made it easy.

A long minute of silence passed, me staring at the ground while Mikan gently held me from behind. Finally, she spoke up.

"It's not hopeless."

"Huh?"

Her arms unfurled from around my neck before slipping under my shoulders to hug my chest.

"Bast sent me here to help you with your fear."

Mikan's voice was getting softer as she turned her head to speak directly into my ear. I could feel her warm breath on my face sending shivers down my spine.

"I think the best way to help your fear of cats...is to show you how good cats can be."

I shuddered as she let out a mewl, but calmed when she started her unique full-body purr. Her hands were at work now, giving a massage to my chest.

"Relax," she purred softly. My mind felt like it was being pulled in two directions. One part was telling me to flee, to get away from the enemy I had let close. The other part was practically melting under the massage. Expertly, Mikan maneuvered me so I was lying face down on the futon. Straddling my back, she continued the exercise.

 _Damn_ she was good. Aside from releasing the tension in my back, I could also feel my ki returning to the places that the malboro had shut off. After three minutes under her hands, the scratches on my chest had almost healed, and only faint wisps of the toxin remained. Why had anyone ever wanted to fire her in the first place?

Actually, that was a good question. I wanted to ask her, but my body was feeling rather lethargic and I couldn't seem to get my mouth working.

"The best way to fight fear," she continued in her soft voice, "is with happiness and pleasure." She moved lower, getting closer to my ear as she massaged my back. "I may not be able to do much, but I hope I can give you that."

Wearily, I turned my head to the side, trying to reassure her that she'd already done very well, but before I could say anything, Mikan fully pressed herself against me, leaning her head to the side to capture my lips with hers. It was short, sweet, and feather light. The first kiss she'd given me completely of her own accord. I couldn't find anything to say, but apparently she wasn't expecting anything.

"Good night, master," she said softly before getting up and placing a blanket over me. Seconds later I was out like a light.

* * *

For the second time since her ill fated fight, she awoke in an unfamiliar place. Her mind was a bit blurry. She remembered a hume-like city, the malboro attacking, getting a mouthful of the toxin, a male hume, and then...nothing.

Her long white ears twitched as she heard the sounds of something moving in the room beyond, along with the sound of running water. Gracefully, she pulled the covers aside, shivering slightly as cool air caressed her bare chest.

Wait...why was she naked?

Throwing the remaining blankets aside, she sighed in relief as she noticed her lower garments still in place. However...

Her nose twitched as she scented the air. The male's scent was heavy in this place, along with...hers? Glancing down at her legs, her face started to turn a deep shade of red as she identified the smell.

* * *

CRASH!

The sudden noise jerked me awake. Was Nanami pissed? No, the entrance door wasn't off it's hinges. Mikan was already awake and making breakfast so...

Turning slowly, I looked towards the entrance to my room to see the door thrown open, revealing the tall, dark-skinned, barely clothed house guest I had picked up yesterday.

And she looked pissed.

Her eyes locked with mine. "You!"

I blinked. "Me?"

"How dare you take advantage of my weakened state!"

I blinked again. "What?"

"Don't insult me with your ignorance hume! Die!"

Did her hands just catch fire? No time to think about that now, dodge!

Her fist crashed into the place I'd been sitting on seconds earlier, a burning smell soon following. Guess that answered that question.

"Wait -duck- I can -roll- explain!" Letting her fist pass me by, I grabbed her arm in a lock, making sure to keep the burning appendage away from me.

"Do you deny spilling your seed on me hume?"

"Well...uh..."

"DIE!"

For a brief moment her entire body seemed to catch on fire, giving me a nice burn before I was able to jump away. Suddenly, her hand darted over to the corner, grabbing a broom that Mikan had probably been using beforehand. The handle immediately caught on fire, burning the broom part at the end, but leaving the handle intact...yet still on fire.

Now I was a bit hard pressed to dodge, especially in the confined space of my apartment. Call me a coward if you will but I _really_ didn't want to block that thing. While her unarmed combat was average at best, she'd obviously had extensive pole-arm training, as it was getting harder to dodge as her combinations and forms became more intricate.

"Quit dodging and take responsibility!"

"Responsibility for what?"

"Don't play stupid hume!"

Her improvised staff was little more than a fiery blur now, her speed matching her ever rising anger. Pretty soon I was going to have to move this to a more open area, or suffer a few burns...or my apartment would burn down. How was she doing that anyways?

There would be time to trade techniques later. Right now I needed to take this outside. Rolling under one of her horizontal swings, I ran towards the door, arriving just in time for Nanami to open it.

"Hey-Nanami-I-wont-be-going-to-school-today-I-have-to-deal-with-my-house-guest-save-some-breakfast-for-me-bye!"

"Get back here you coward!"

Not wasting any more time on conversation, I jumped to the roofs, making my way towards the park.

* * *

Nanami stared for a few brief moments at Ranma's fading figure before shaking her head and walking inside. Mikan was humming a mindless little tune while calmly going around and putting out the fires that had started around the apartment.

"I take it she didn't wake up in a very good mood," she said frankly.

"Oh I'm sure Ranma will be able to calm her down eventually."

* * *

"Will you just calm down?"

"NEVER!"

Mineth had proved herself to be a capable roof hopper, staying right on my tail as I led her to the park. I briefly considered drawing her into the surrounding trees so as to avoid any early park goers, but the burning staff in her hand made me decide that a few curious observers would be far better than a potential forest fire.

"What are you so angry about?" I shouted to her as I landed in the middle of a clearing in the park.

Mineth wasted no time in resuming her attack, the brightly burning flames adding another level of intimidation to the twirling motions of her staff.

"You still act ignorant hume? Even after you violated me?"

I stumbled at her accusation, nearly falling into one of her blows. "What? I did not!" Putting some distance between us, I patted out the small fire that had started on the collar of my shirt. "Besides, you were the one who grabbed me!"

Right after I said it, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. The red flames that had wreathed her staff suddenly winked out, only to be replaced a moment later with white fire. I could feel the heat even from five feet away.

"You...DIE!"

The park suddenly erupted into a maelstrom of energy as I _quickly_ learned that Mineth was capable of much more than just setting her hands on fire. The ground rumbled and shook as small sharp pillars of earth bean erupting from the ground at the same time as she began her attack, trying to herd me into her staffs blows.

Fortunately, there was about a second of delay between each of her magic attacks and I could feel the slight trembles in the ground well enough to predict where the stalagmites would come up. It didn't make her any less dangerous though, as getting within an inch of her staff was enough to burn me. I was also still a little reluctant to strike her over a misunderstanding, so I stuck to dodging in the hopes that she would eventually tire herself out...preferably before I caught on fire.

"What's the matter hume?" she spat nastily as I danced around another series of her strikes. "Don't want to touch someone when they're fighting back?"

Ignoring the implied vibe, I flipped backwards, coming to rest on top of one of the earthen spires. "Look, I didn't do any-"

"LIGHTNING!"

Her shout was followed with a thrust of her staff into the air. A small rumble was the only warning I got before the left side of my body suddenly went numb, causing me to loose my balance and tumble from my perch on the stone.

Taking advantage of my momentary paralysis, Mineth charged my prone position, striking at my face. Shifting as best I could, I managed to take the blow on my shoulder, biting back a cry of pain as the flames easily burned through my silk shirt and licked at my skin. Lashing out with my good leg, I managed to kick her hands away, using her stumble to recover as best I could.

Fortunately, my body was quickly recovering, moving from a completely numb state to a 'pins and needles' phase. Annoying as hell, but I could fight through it. Of course, mild paralysis was the least of my problems.

"WINTER'S BREATH!"

I didn't have the first clue as to how her techniques worked, but even I wanted to call foul as she shot a freezing cold blast of air from her right hand while holding the flaming broom handle in her left. The attack had a wide range, so I took cover behind one of her previously uprooted earthen spikes as the ground turned white around us. This was really getting out of hand.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, I abandoned my cover as the frost shower died down, just in time for the structure to shatter, raining stones where I was standing just a second ago.

Okay, enough was enough. If this went on much longer, she'd probably destroy the whole park. Watching the movement of her staff carefully, I saw her thrust it into the air. That meant-

"LIGHTNING!"

I was ready for it this time. Kicking off the frost covered ground, I sprinted at her, moving in a random zigzag pattern, feeling the brush of electricity against my skin as the raining bolts failed to find their mark. In another second, I had closed with her, forcing her to abandon the elemental onslaught. I began with a series of feints, careful not to connect with her still burning staff.

Finally, she gave me an opening. With a quick chop, I connected with her wrist before taking a small step back and performing a snap kick, sending the staff flying away in two pieces. Even moving as fast as I was, I still felt the burn. The loss of her weapon didn't seem to phase her though, as she cupped her hand together, letting loose a torrent of fire.

I was almost caught unprepared, but I was expecting some sort of close range elemental attack from her and the only casualty was another of my shirts as I ducked under the sudden blast of flame. Unfortunately, the ground was incredibly slick right next to her though, and the sharp movement caused me to fall onto my back.

Desperately, I rolled away as as her trail of flame followed me. Getting a good distance apart, I regained my feet and ran at her again, hoping to surprise her out of any other magic she had planned. Too bad for me that lightning moved a hell of a lot faster than fire. The blast from her hands hit me full force, sending sharp lances of pain all throughout my body like earlier, only about a hundred times worse.

My muscles locked up, not responding to the commands in my brain, my body carrying itself forward on the momentum I had built up. I didn't need to see Mineth's wide eyed look to realize she hadn't expected me to keep moving forward. Unable to dodge out of the way in time, the two of us went down in a tangle of limbs.

The sudden impact gave my brain a jump start as Mineth began squirming beneath me, trying to lift my superior weight. The next few moments were a bit hazy for me as the two of us wrestled on the ground for a bit, martial arts and magic pretty much forgotten. It was an even match, with my half paralyzed body and sluggish movements, trying to restrain her hands clawing at my face. With a surprisingly strong heave, the two of us rolled over, Mineth straddling my waist. For a moment, I thought that she'd attempt another magic blast, but instead her hands went for my throat, attempting to cut off my air supply, her face a picture of rage.

Despite my lack of air, I was still somewhat grateful she hadn't decided to give me a face full of fire instead. It was my turn to struggle now as I tried to roll over again, but my body didn't seem up to the task. Reaching out with my hands, I attempted to hit a nerve in her shoulder but my hands fell short, coming to rest on...

Mineth's body froze, allowing me to take in a breath, as I felt something soft and supple in my hand.

"Aah!"

The bunny-girl's eyes widened as I unintentionally squeezed her breast. In an instant, her hands had left my neck and were working to pry my offending limb away from her chest. Thinking back on it, I could tell that I probably wasn't in the best frame of mind, having just been shocked, burned, frozen, and choked within the last thirty seconds, but I knew that as long as she was distracted with...that, she wasn't cutting off my air supply.

My second hand quickly joined the attack, slipping underneath the fabric of her bra and massaging her smooth bare skin for all I was worth.

"No! Stop that you- Ahh!" She let out another stifled squeak as I gave her a sharp pinch. Apparently she still had some remnants of the malboro toxin in her. Her hands were still tugging at mine, but her struggles were weakening while my motor control was returning. With a surge of strength, I reversed our positions again, my hands keeping up the attack.

Were she thinking clearly, she probably could have taken a shot at my face, or any other part of my body, but instead her hands continued to battle mine, trying vainly to tug them away as I ran my fingers over her thin covering. Finally, I felt her body shudder and her grip slacken completely as she violently arched into me and my own arousal. Letting out a long, hot breath, I rolled off to the side, laying next to her as she regained her senses.

We must have lain there on the cold ground for about thirty seconds in a mixture of lust and embarrassment. Finally, I decided to venture a comment. "Are you okay Mineth?"

She didn't respond immediately. Turning my head to the side, I saw the girl staring at me with wide eyes. "You know my name?" she asked in a bit of a daze.

"Yeah, you uh...told it to me while I was carrying you away from the malboro attack," I provided earnestly, hoping to spark some recognition in her memory.

A myriad of emotions crossed her face. Suspicion, surprise, disbelief, embarrassment, even the hint of a blush colored her dark cheeks for a second or two. Her mouth opened once, and then closed, no words coming out. On the second attempt, she finally got some out.

"You mean-"

"Yes."

"You and I-"

"Yes."

"And we-"

"It was the malboro's fault."

"But you-"

"He got me too."

Silence. This one seemed to stretch out even longer. Suddenly, I felt my head being lifted from the ground as Mineth grabbed the collar of my shirt, bringing her face inches away from mine, her face set in a mixture of anger and shame.

"You speak of this to no one," she said in a dark voice. "Ever."

I held up my hands in surrender. "No one is going to hear it from me."

Her eyes narrowed. "You swear?"

"On my life as a martial artist," I said without hesitation. Seriously, did people actually _talk_ about this kind of thing with other people? Just the though of doing so made me embarrassed.

"Don't even think about it."

"Hey come on now..."

"I mean it!"

"Okay fine! I promise not to think about it."

"...you're thinking about it right now!"

"I am not!"

* * *

The short but heated battle we'd fought had cut a wide swath of destruction , consisting of upturned earth, burnt grass, and patches of ice along the ground. Fortunately, it was early enough for the park to be pretty much empty and Mineth was able to hide most of the damage by withdrawing the stone spikes back into the earth.

The magic had fatigued her though, leaving her swaying unsteadily on her feet as she tried to walk in my direction, the earlier battle catching up to her as the adrenaline faded. Before she could fall though, I was at her side, steadying her.

"Would you...like some help?" I asked hesitantly.

Taking a deep breath, she sighed, her face showing resignation. "Fine. But you never speak of this either."

"Trust me," I said, gently picking her up bridal style, "no one is even going to see us."

I had been banged up pretty badly in the fight, but I had recovered much better than Mineth had the previous night and had only gotten partial exposure to the malboro's toxin to begin with. Bottom line: no one saw anything more than a blur as I passed through the park and took to the rooftops.

"What is your name?" asked Mineth a I ran.

"Ranma Aoba," I responded.

"Ranma...do you know...where I am right now?" Her words came out haltingly, as if she feared the answer.

Well, it didn't look like I'd be going to school today so I had time.

"Yeah, that's actually a bit of a story. Do you know anything about the cat god?"

Confused, she shook her head.

"Er...do you know anything about a rabbit kingdom?"

Another head shake. The hell? Almost instinctively, my mind jumped to a different conclusion altogether.

"Mineth...do you see...anything familiar here at all?"

"No," she said resolutely. "This place is completely...alien to me."

That cinched it. Mineth wasn't from the same dimension as the cat-god, she was from an entirely different dimension altogether. That familiar cold feeling of dread was creeping up my spine again. Just how badly did that stupid cat-god screw up?

* * *

 _Somewhere in a super top-secret undisclosed location between dimensions..._

The cat-god nodded in satisfaction as he layered yet another spell on top of the numerous ones already in place atop the ornate wooden box. Picking it up carefully, he placed the box in a large adamantium safe, shutting it and locking it before lowering it into the ground and covering it up with a tatami mat, along with an additional illusion.

From the other room, Bast poked her head in, looking on as her husband secured the box.

"Is that-"

"The contract Ranma signed? Yep."

"So...why are you-"

"Just a percaution...that's all."

* * *

A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this super special awesome holiday chapter of Cat's Paw.

...okay so maybe it has nothing to do with the holidays, but I wish you all a merry Christmas nonetheless.


	11. Guardian Fury: Chapter 1

Author's Forward:

Blunt honestly? Shiva and Siren were hot and I was a teenager at the time who had just finished Final Fantasy 8. Still, beyond just that, the Guardian Forces were such a strange entity that went relatively unexplored in the game that I couldn't help but wonder about them and how they actually bonded with the users. Were they contracts? Pacts? Rituals? A few of them were shown to be intelligent speakers, so this story was also trying to explore that concept a bit more.

I'm pretty sure that the ultimate idea was to tie the whole separation of spirit and body plot into something that one of the Garden Masters figured out how to do, with some of the spirits simply being grateful for their newfound freedom, while others wanted revenge on the humans for what they pulled, leading into a confrontation between Squall, the spirits, and Bahamut.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or Square Enix so don't sue me. Please?

A/N: First fic alert! I had this idea banging inside my head for a while so I finally decided to put it down on paper. Tell me what you think. Oh and a little warning, I am going to bet that you never would have seen this coming.

Duck. Roll. Dodge. Swing. Retreat.

Squall backed away from the T-Rexaur to catch his breath, his Lion Heart gunblade in a defensive position. After catching his breath he charged at the monster again.

Jump. Swing. Trigger. Duck.

He jumped back to avoid another head butt. Running forward Squall jumped over the tail and jumped again to strike at the T-Rexaur's face. Timing his swings perfectly Squall unloaded the Renzokuken into the dinosaurs neck, killing it almost instantly.

Sensing another presence behind him Squall lifted up one hand and drew fire magic from the fading T-Rexaur. With the other hand he unloaded the fire magic into the Grats that were trying to sneak up behind him.

Sighing to himself he picked up the gunblade from where he dropped it and cleaned it on the grass. After carefully examining it he placed it in the sheath on his back and slowly walked out of the Balamb Garden training center.

It had been 6 months since Ultimecia's defeat and the end of the Time Compressed World and things had settled into a rut at Balamb Garden. Galbadia was quiet and Timber had stopped most of their revolutionary activities for the time being.

Even the most troublesome monsters had been quiet as of late, and lets face it, Squall was bored. It seemed that recently his job as a commander had him taking up pens and pencils as his weapons instead of his gunblade. He trained in the Training Center constantly to escape the monotonous lull of the daily life he was living but not even the mighty T-Rexaur seemed to be a challenge to him anymore.

He found himself jumping at almost every assignment he could, whether it was a field test or a rumor, just to find something interesting to do.

So lost in thought, he bumped straight into Zell, knocking him straight to the floor.

"Sorry Zell," he mumbled quietly.

"Owwww! Damn man, I felt like I just ran into a brick wall. Do you have the Brothers junctioned again?" he whined.

"No, just Shiva."

Zell picked himself off the ground and rubbed his forehead a little bit, "Oh yeah! Cid wanted to see you by the way. Said he had an important assignment for you."

Squall perked up a little at this, "Did he say anything about it?"

"He said to dress warmly."

Giving his thanks Squll headed towards the elevator. He met Seifer there in his white trench coat followed by Fujin and Raijin. He had come back to the Garden after Ultimecia's defeat and made a public apology for his actions. Cid had reinstated him as head of the disciplinary committee and he had joined 'Squalls crowd' as a good friend.

He still hadn't passed his Seed examine and he still fought dirty but Squall wouldn't have it any other way.

"Where you headed today Squall?" asked Seifer as he passed.

"Away from here." He said simply.

"That boring huh? I feel ya man. The boredom is so thick here you can cut with a gunblade."

"INDEED." Spoke Fujin.

"I'm heading down to Balamb to enter the card tournament." Explained Seifer.

"…You play cards?"

"Aint nothing else to do on this island." With a swish of his coat he and his friends walked towards the front gate. Squall took the elevator to the headmaster's office.

Cid greeted him from behind his desk, "Thank you for coming so quickly Squall."

"…Whatever."

Any normal commanding officer might have reprimanded Squall's attitude but Cid had been around him too long to be affected by it any longer.

"So how have you been lately? I heard that we needed to order a double shipment of monsters for the training center due to your activities in there."

Squall said nothing in his typical 'I could care less' manner.

"How have things been with your fath…"

"If you don't mind sir, I would like to know the reason why I was called up here." Said Squall cutting him off.

Cid sighed, "You were never one to beat around the bush. Very well here are the facts." Cid unrolled a world map on his desk. Squall noticed that there was a big red circle around the Shumi Village Island.

"There have been reports of an ice monster prowling around Shumi Village. The townsfolk of the area have requested Seed aid."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"Ahem. I'm sorry, they did not request Seed aid, the village elder requested your aid specifically."

"Why?"

"He said that you were the only one that the people in his village trusted. I'm afraid that your going to have to go solo for this mission, if you accept that is."

Squall didn't even hesitate, "I'll go."

As he turned to leave Cid called out to him, "Oh, by the way, how have things been with Rinoa?"

"…Don't ask."

It wasn't until Squall was actually in the Ragnarock before he remembered that he didn't bother to junction any GF except Shiva. Not an ideal GF to use against an ice monster.

'Guess I'll just have to do this one myself,' thought Squall to himself.

Squall expertly navigated the skies towards Shumi village. It did help that there was no air traffic. As soon as he reached the island disaster struck. A blizzard came out of nowhere, completely covering the front window. He tried his best to regain control but the wind made maneuvering difficult.

Despite the difficulties he was able to make a pretty good landing.

Well…okay it was an OK landing, I mean, any landing that you can walk away from is a good landing right? Oh forget it. He crashed the damn thing right into a mountain and had to cast a cure spell on himself.

(Back to the story)

'Where the hell did that come from?' thought Squall as he headed towards the emergency exit. The front of the ship was buried in a mountain of snow and Squall assessed that there would be no way to move it until the blizzard passed. As soon as he hit the button that released the air lock he was assailed by a blast of cold wind.

Tightening his jacket around him Squall stepped out into a winter nightmare. The snow was coming down fast and hard and the wind was blowing right into his face. Again he wished that he had remembered the junction a better GF for the situation.

'No time to dwell on the past, better start roughing it.'

Progress was slow. It seemed the harder he tried to walk into the storm the more fiercely it blew at him. It was getting so bad that he could barely see his hand in front of his face. Fortunately there were no enemies. Not even they were stupid enough to go out in weather like this.

'Guess that makes me an idiot then.' Thought Squall to himself. He couldn't help but chuckle at his own words.

'Man, look at me. Near death and here I am laughing to myself.'

He had no idea where he was, and he had lost the Ragnarock a while ago.

'This is pointless. I could pass Shumi Village and not even know it.'

He didn't know how long he walked. Feeling was lost in his feet and hands and the meager jacket he had on was little better than nothing.

'When the headmaster said dress warmly I wasn't expecting dress for the ice age.'

And then, it stopped.

'The hell?'

Squall looked around. Directly behind him and directly in front of him he could see the storm raging around him. But not in this clearing.

'I must be in the eye of the storm. That's lucky.'

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck raise Squall drew his gunblade. During the time he and his friends had went around the world and defeated Ultimecia he had honed his danger sense. He could usually tell when a monster approaching and it had saved his life on countless occasions.

Suddenly, the snow in front of him shot up like a geyser, knocking Squall back and throwing his gunblade from his hand. The snow died down and Squall looked upon the ice monster.

The thing looked a lot like the Abadon he had fought in Esthar's Great Salt Lake except this one was made of pure ice. The thing stood three times taller than him, its limbs a steely blue with two red eyes near the top of its head.

Right where its chest area should have been was a blue…something. It looked like a type of fog but it was colored a lighter blue from the rest of the monster.

The thing reared back its head and let out a roar that chilled Squall's very bones. Finally it looked directly at Squall and opened its mouth, letting out a barrage of icicles, each one as thick as Edea's special.

Cursing to himself Squall dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the icicles and retrieving his Lion Heart. The thing pounded the ground sending a shockwave through the snow, knocking Squall on his back.

Picking himself off the ground he had just enough time to roll out of the way of another volley of ice. Moving back to get some room he used scan.

Briefly his eyes filled with 1's and 0's of computer information.

Monster Data- ?

'Fat lot of help that did.'

The thing had stopped firing off icicles and was moving towards him again. Squall readied a Firaga spell he had gotten from the T-Rexaur earlier that day.

Running forward and jumping over the shockwave the thing produced he shot the spell right at the monsters leg. Aside from slightly melting the ice the spell did nothing.

The monster however, seemed to be in pain. It let out another roar and brought down its fist where Squall was standing. Squall managed to avoid a direct hit but the resulting shockwave knocked him back several yards. He was able to hold on to his weapon though.

Getting up once again Squall faced the monster only to find that a flurry of icicles was coming at him. Not having time to dodge squall tried to deflect them. He was able to get most of them but a few of them got through his guard. One went directly through his leg.

Biting back a yell Squall gripped the icicle and pulled it out of his leg. Furious, he threw the thing back at the monster. Surprisingly it scored a direct hit right in the midsection where the strange mist was. There were now several fine cracks running along the ice that encased it. The monster let out another roar and jerked the icicle out of its chest.

"Don't like that do you?" Squall told the monster. Forcing himself to ignore the pain in his leg Squall ran towards the monster again. He ducked under some icicles and jumped over another shockwave. As the monster brought its fist down again Squall jumped on it.

The thing brought its fist up in the air, preparing to fling Squall off but before it could jerk its fist he jumped off the limb, straight for its midsection.

"Rough Dive!" he shouted out just before striking the chest of the monster, shattering the ice around the mist. The mist immediately seeped out and the monster fell to pieces, dropping Squall onto the ground.

He lay there for a few seconds with his eyes closed. The storm had died with the creature and the wound in his leg, aggravated by his final actions, was making him feel lightheaded.

'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'At least I took that bastard with me.'

Opening his eyes he saw that the mist was still floating in the air above him. Before he could say anything he felt a pulling inside his chest. With a mighty tug that almost made him scream a blue ball of light shot out of his chest and collided with the mist.

Staggering to his knees Squall witnessed a small tornado in the air where the two things met.

He nearly fell over when he heard a woman's voice shout out:

"FREE AT LAST!"

The tornado finally died down and Squall got a look at the speaker.

There were not many things that could shock squall. However this nearly made him faint.

"S…s…Shiva!"

There in front of him stood the GF Shiva in all her icy glory. There was something different about her though. A smile was on her lips instead of the usual cold expression she was wearing when she was called into battle. Squall had never heard her talk, or make any noise for that matter but now she was speaking to him plain as day.

She looked directly at Squall, "Hello Squall. Yes, I am Shiva. It is nice to finally meet you."

"Bu…but your still junctioned to me! How can you be talking to me?"

"No Squall. I am the true Shiva.

Squall didn't respond. Passing out can do that to a guy.

A/N: Your probably going to be breaking your arms holding on to this cliffhanger. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	12. Guardian Fury: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Yawn.

A/N: I must be doing something right since I got some pretty good reviews.

She looked directly at Squall, "Hello Squall. Yes, I am Shiva. It is nice to finally meet you."

"Bu…but your still junctioned to me! How can you be talking to me?"

"No Squall. I am the true Shiva.

Squall didn't respond. Passing out can do that to a guy.

Guardian Fury Presents 

**Chapter 2: Shiva's Awakening**

Squall knew he was dreaming. Being set so hard in reality for so long gave him a keen sense of when he was awake or not and he knew that he was not awake.

In his dream he saw Rinoa in her usual outfit with her pinwheel. She was in a field of flowers playing with her dog Angelo, throwing a plastic disc and watching him catch it.

'Rinoa,' Squall thought sadly to himself. He thought he loved her once, he probably still did but he doubted Rinoa's feelings. She had probably been the first person who had openly cared for him and he had opened her heart to her and dropped his defenses just for her.

He realized now that she had been caught on the rebound. She had been so desperate for companionship, for someone to remind her of Seifer, that after he had supposedly been executed, she had come on to Squall. Squall, so desperate for companionship never questioned her actions but accepted her.

Now that Seifer was back, things had become a little rock between them. Squall, never one to force someone into anything had pretty much let her go in heart and mind. He shuddered as the flowery landscape around him turned to winter and a light snow started falling.

The snow fell harder and faster, he lost sight of Rinoa and her dog in the flurry of flakes. The cold began to creep up on him even as he gathered his coat around him. The temperature kept falling, threatening to freeze him to death but he felt oddly comforted.

'Wait a minute,' he thought to himself, 'I don't have to deal with this!'

With a grunt of effort and force of mind he forced himself to wake up to the world of the living.

A few minutes earlier:

Shiva watched as Squall passed out. The blood loss he had suffered from the near penetration of his leg, combined with his afterward actions was taking its toll.

Acting quickly she rummaged through Squall's discarded pack, finally finding a med kit. Removing some bandages she summoned her power to numb his wound before wrapping the gauze around his leg.

The blizzard was starting again. Although she liked the cold she knew that Squall was not immune to it as she was. She had to find a cave quickly, for the blizzard was set to last all day and a good part of the night.

Over the years of being imprisoned within that ice monster she had a ridiculous amount of energy that needed to be bled off one way or another, and it was in the form of this blizzard.

Picking up Squall in a fireman's carry she quickly glided across the snowy landscape, using the howling winds behind her to boost her speed. Luck was with her as she quickly located a fair sized cave that contained room enough for the both of them.

Taking a look at her patient she saw that his breathing had regulated. She felt his pulse and wasn't really surprised to find that he was nearly back to normal.

'After all,' she thought, 'He survived an ice spear to the chest what should I expect?'

Muttering a few words under her breath she scanned Squall with her 'chi sight.' A fancy little trick that all of the Guardians knew that let them examine the life force of a living entity.

Seeing that he was now dreaming she sat up against the opposite wall and waited for Squall to awake.

Squall opened his eyes to see Shiva looking at him from across the cave. He took stock of his body and found that he couldn't move his leg. Looking down he saw that his leg was entombed in an icy cast so that his leg wound could heal easily while deadening the pain. It also stopped his leg from moving.

"Don't even try it Squall," Shiva said suddenly, startling Squall, "You're not going anywhere until this storm is over."

'The hell?' he thought, 'How did she know what I was thinking?'

"Come off it Squall. I've been with you ever since you entered the fire cavern. I doubt there is another person on Hyne that knows you as well as I do."

'True enough.' He thought to himself. He had always been junctioned to Shiva no matter where he was. His friends told him that the GF suited him saying that they both had a cold attitude.

"So…Shiva. Do you mind explaining what's going on?"

"About what?" she asked innocently.

"Like what the hell that ice monster was and why the hell you're still out here even though you're still junctioned to me!" he shouted. He always hated it when there were things that he couldn't understand or he was kept in the dark.

Shiva didn't even seem fazed by the outburst, "Squall if you keep trying to get up then I will freeze your whole body to that stone right there. I know you hate being kept in the dark so let me explain."

'Damnit!' Squall thought but relaxed himself anyways.

She unfurled from her sitting position and moved around a bit to get comfortable. For the first time Squall was actually able to get a good look at her. Before, when she had been summoned in battle, Squall had never really been able to examine her as he had always been distracted by the battle.

Now that she was sitting across from him he finally got an eyeful of her perfect figure and state of near undress, covered only by the swimsuit like apparel that fit her body perfectly…

Squall mentally started hitting himself, 'Do not think about that Squall!' he mentally chided to himself. He almost felt himself blush but was able to hold it back.

Shiva gave him a small mischievous smirk before finally seating herself on one of the rocks.

"Let's see, the story begins around, oh say 5,000+ years ago," She began.

"This is going to take a while isn't it?" mumbled Squall.

"Yes. Now be quiet. Long ago the ultimate force created everything and everyone in it. He created the animals, the people, and the world itself. Along with those things, the ultimate force created the Guardians, or as you like to call them, GF's."

"Each Guardian was given his, or her, unique ability and area of control. He created a total of 32 guardians, among them Ifrit, Quezacotl, Siren, and me. I was given control over the element of ice while Ifrit was given the power of fire. Quezacotl was given the power over thunder while the Siren was given the power over light. The point is that every GF had their specialty."

Squall interrupted, "32? But we only have 16 GFs that were cataloged in the history texts."

"Of course. Those 16, and some others are the only ones remaining."

"Remaining? But I thought it was impossible to kill of a Guardian!" exclaimed Squall.

"Normally yes. Now let me finish."

Squall sighed and readjusted his position into a more comfortable one.

"There is a saying that goes 'For every source of light there must be an equal source of darkness,' well the darkness eventually did come. It came in the form of Ultimecia. Using her power she began to corrupt the Guardians and turn them to her side. You might remember some of them when you went to fight Ultimecia such as Tiamat and Krysta."

"You mean all those monsters were GFs?"

"Some of the minor ones. When you defeated them their essence was scattered and they probably wont be appearing for a long time. The major ones such as Ifrit and I were dealt with more forcefully."

"What happened?" asked Squall in a surprisingly worried voice.

"To put it bluntly she ripped our spirit from our bodies and imprisoned them in various locations, usually guarded by powerful monsters. Over time the remaining shell of the GFs body began to take form again but it lacked the true power of the Guardian.

Shiva shuddered as if recalling a painful memory, "The powerful Guardians were stripped of all human traits and emotions except the most primal instincts of combat such as destroying their enemies and submitting to ones more powerful then them. This was how the first of the Guardians were enslaved by the humans."

For some reason Squall was feeling extremely guilty. He and his friends had beaten more than one guardian into submission.

Shiva sensing his discomfort walked over and lightly punched him on the arm, "Hey cheer up! I don't blame you in the slightest. You were the one that helped free my spirit from its prison after all."

Squall spoke up, "So now that we defeated Ultimecia everything should return to normal right?"

Shiva sat down next to him, "Not quite. There are still some minor problems. Every guardian that you know of is still imprisoned and guarded."

"So all we have to do is release them from their prisons and everything will be fine right?"

"That brings us to the second problem. Ultimecia wasn't the one behind all of this."

This shocked Squall to the very core. He could already feel the peace they had worked so hard to obtain slip away. In a voice that was cold as hard steel he asked Shiva, "Who is it?"

Grim faced Shiva replied, "No one knows his real name. The name he goes by now is Omega Weapon."

Balamb Garden:

Newly reinstated Instructor Quistis approached the elevator door to head to Cid's office. It had been 2 days since anyone had seen or heard from Squall and the garden was walking on eggshells when the news of their commander had leaked out.

From what Quisits had heard, Cid had sent Squall on a solo mission somewhere to help him relive some of his tension. She, along with a lot of other people, had seen the pent up energy Squall had and many had agreed that Squall needed a vacation.

Cid, knowing that Squall would never accept time off, sent him out on a low risk mission going solo, but he had not returned.

Pushing the button repeatedly in the hope that the elevator might go faster, Quistis rode the machine to the office.

When the door finally opened she saw a grim faced headmaster seated behind his desk. He was focusing intently on a small computer monitor, seeming to ignore the world around him.

"Headmaster…" Quistis began but she was cut off.

"In a second Ms. Trepe. I think that all of Squalls friends should be here to listen to this."

Over the PA system a loud message rang through the halls, "Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, and Irvine Kinneas, please report to the headmasters office. It concerns commander Leonhart.

Rinoa Heartilly stopped looking at the copy of Squall's ring and placed it on her nightstand before running out of the room.

For the first time in the history of Balamb Garden, Zell Dincht left a hot dog half uneaten and ran to the elevator.

Selphie Tilmitt abandoned her hold on the ladder supporting one of the more unfortunate Garden Festival Workers to run out of the Quad.

Irvine Kinneas stopped in mid sentence as he was hitting on the Library Girl and walked away with a hasty goodbye.

A few minutes later:

The friends gathered in the headmaster's office awaiting the words of Headmaster Cid.

"As you may or may not have known, Squall was sent on a low-risk solo assignment as a sort of semi-vacation."

A few of the people present nodded.

Waving a hand to Xu a holographic screen popped up, showing a world map.

"Squall was assigned to rid Shumi Village of an Ice Monster that they claimed had been plaguing their lands. The sources were unreliable and were thus written off as hallucinations and the like."

Zell raised his hand, "Excuse me sir but to be quite frank, shouldn't you have know better?"

If Cid was offended by Zell's words he didn't show it, "That's the beauty of hindsight Zell. We all have perfect 20/20 vision."

A red line began to appear on the map.

"The Ragnarock was implemented with a tracking device recently so we could track its progress in the even that it was lost or stolen. This is Squall's path."

The red line made a beeline for Shumi Village for the most part. As it neared its destination the line became erratic and shaky before finally disappearing all together.

"We lost the signal around this area. Citizens from Trabia Garden have reported a large blizzard appeared and engulfed a large part of the island. As of now, we do not know what has happened to Squall."

Selphie piped up, "So what are we going to do about it?"

Cid sighed, "We can't do anything about it."

This time Irvine spoke up, "But we do have the floating garden! Couldn't we use that to…"

Cid interrupted him, "Irvine, the Ragnarock crashed in that storm. What makes you think that the garden will be any different?"

Irvine was silent.

Rinoa was the last to speak up, "Cant we do something?"

Quistis was the one who responded. In a defeated voice she said, "All we can do it ride the storm out and pray for Squall's safety."

A/N: Another chapter up and running, hope you enjoy it. Thank you to the three people that reviewed my story.


	13. Guardian Fury: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Whoops, wrong story.

A/N: After weeks of waiting I am finally getting the next chapter out. My thanks to everyone who reviewed.

Rinoa was the last to speak up, "Cant we do something?"

Quistis was the one who responded. In a defeated voice she said, "All we can do it ride the storm out and pray for Squall's safety."

Somewhere near Shumi Village:

Squall looked outside the cave entrance. After two days of waiting and healing, the storm was dying down, along with the pain in his leg. He had always been a fast healer after all and the injury had been relatively minor compared to some of the others he had gotten on his adventures.

He looked upon the sleeping form of Shiva and thought back to their conversation last night.

'Just when I thought it was over something new comes up to threaten the world again.' Thought Squall bitterly, 'Oh well, maybe I wont be so bored now.'

Squall couldn't help but chuckle to himself, 'I must be going crazy. My life is on the line, the world is in danger and here I am laughing to myself, again.'

FLASHBACK

"So all we have to do is kill Omega Weapon right?" inquired Squall.

Shiva sighed, "I wish it were that simple."

Squall looked at her, "So what's stopping us?"

"Frankly put? If you take on Omega Weapon right now, you'll loose, no questions asked."

"What if I got my friends to help?" asked Squall.

"You mean the guys that saved the world last time? I'm sorry but their combined strength, even with their GF's, would be about the equivalent of shooting a BB gun at a freight train."

Squall was silent, "So what can we do?"

"Simple. I want you to help me free the other GF's from their prisons."

"Why do you need my help?"

"Several reasons, few of which you want to know, and even less that you would understand."

'God damn mysteries,' thought Squall angrily, 'Oh hell what do I have to loose?'

"…Alright I'll do it."

Shiva enveloped him in a surprisingly warm hug, making him stiffen in surprise, "Thanks Squall."

END FLASHBACK

Shiva kept her eyes closed as she sensed around for Squall. He was by the cave entrance, staring out at the snow-covered ground. She too thought about the conversation last night.

When Squall had said that he still had her junctioned to him he was correct, but there were some things she had not told him. Ever since her spirit had been set free the junction began to work two ways. It wasn't even considered a junction now, more of a link.

The end result was a type of bond that connected them to eachother. If one of the people involved concentrated hard enough, he or she could sense where the other was and what they were feeling.

However Shiva had gotten the feeling that if Squall had found out about the connection he would sever it, rending her helpless. While it was true most of her power were recovered when her spirit was set free there was still something missing, an anchor. Unfortunately she couldn't pinpoint where, or what, it was.

Until then she had to use Squall as her anchor to this world. This was also why she needed him to come along.

'Of course I have my own 'personal' reasons…' she thought quietly to herself.

Squall watched as Shiva awoke from her sleep, only to quickly look away as her stretching threatened to degrade his thoughts into NC-17.

'Damnit,' he thought angrily, 'Why the hell am I reacting like this?'

Shiva felt a stab of frustration come from Squall. Concentrating for a bit she searched very deep into his emotions, past the self imposed barriers of ice, and smiled at what she found, 'He's probably not used to feeling that…particular emotion.'

Speaking to Shiva without turning Squall spoke, "I need to get back to the ship and report. If I'm gone for four days I'll be MIA and I don't need to deal with that.

Starting to walk away, he was abruptly stopped as he found he couldn't move his bad leg.

"And just how do you think your going to get anywhere with that bandage on?" asked Shiva smugly as she shattered the ice that had trapped Squall's foot.

"It's nothing," muttered Squall as he tried to walk again.

"Really?" reaching out, Shiva gently poked Squall's leg in the place where the ice spear had penetrated. Squall nearly toppled over from the pain that shot up his leg and throughout his body.

"Don't try to act macho Squall," chided the ice queen, "You don't need to show off to anyone."

Squall felt another stab of annoyance at her words but conceded to let her support him.

The landscape, so unlike yesterday's blizzard, gave a calm and serene feeling. The sun was shining on the newly fallen snow that had slowed down to a mere sprinkle. There were no footprints anywhere; even the monsters had not come out yet.

"So, Shiva?"

"Hmm?"

"Who are we going to free first?"

"The only guardian I can sense right now is the Siren, and that's only because she's my cousin."

"Your cousin." Squall said incredulously.

"I know, and I've been trying to hide it for so long." She said wistfully.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Well, let's just say that she's not all…up there. If you know what I mean." She finished.

Squall knew exactly what she meant. He had encountered those kinds of people several times. His face almost broke into a full out grin when he remembered a particular pair…

FLASHBACK

"You're not getting away this time!" shouted Wedge.

"Yeah! We'll stop you!" added Biggs.

Squall acted immediately and casted confuse on Wedge. The officer staggered for a few seconds before attacking Biggs.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?"

Biggs retaliated and punched Wedge in the stomach, knocking him out of his confusion.

"Damnit Biggs! That hurt!" and Wedge retaliated with a punch to the face.

"Why you…"

The two rolled on the ground, weapons forgotten, punching and kicking eachother. Squall and his friends merely walked by, ignoring the two soldiers.

END FLASHBACK

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

Due to the injury Squall had received the progress was slow but steady. The temperature was cool but not to the point of freezing. Squall had a suspicion that Shiva had something to do with it.

They finally reached the Ragnarock after a good 2 hours of walking. Squall stifled the urge to yell in frustration as he saw that ship was buried under a mound of snow so large that only the tail end was visible.

"So how are we going to get this thing out?" asked Squall, "Can you use your powers to move the snow away?"

Shiva shook her head, "Sorry, my powers only let me create ice, not remove it."

"Guess we'll just have to do this the hard way then." Said Squall with a grimace.

Concentrating on his gunblade, Squall junctioned the fire magic he had into the blade. Estimating where the air lock on the ship was Squall leaped into the air and performed a dive straight into the snow. The fire magic combined with the force of his attack easily made a hole straight through the snow and right to the airlock.

Unfortunately his leg wound combined with the stress the attack put on his leg made Squall fall over in agony.

Shiva jumped down the hole and landed gently next to Squall's prone figure.

She grabbed Squall by his jacket and easily pulled him to his feet, "Probably not the best solution but it worked. And if you try to play hero again make sure that your fully healed."

They made their way through the ship and towards the cockpit. The Ragnarock was a mess. Many things were lying broken on the floor and there were several cracks running along the hull.

"Assuming that this thing can actually get off the ground," said Squall, "I'd give us about 2 hours flight time before the thing crashes."

"Any place we can repair it?" asked Shiva.

Squall thought for a minute, 'I don't think Zell could restore this flying death trap from the states it in so that only leaves one place…'

"…We'll have to go to Esthar."

Shiva felt his words bare a trace of distaste though he hid it well. She decided not to press him for details.

Flipping the necessary switches Squall started up the Ragnarock, the whole ship seeming to groan in protest at the action. Trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was creeping up on him Squall hit the engine boost button and held it down.

The ship shook under them, straining to get free of its snowy prison. After 10 seconds of struggling the snow began to melt and the Ragnarock shot off like a bullet.

"SQUALL! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING"

The driver immediately turned the ship sideways almost causing Shiva to fall over had she not grabbed onto Squall's seat. The Ragnarock missed the mountain range directly in front of them by mere inches.

"PULL UP SQUALL!"

"I'M TRYING!"

Squall jerked the ship to the right, barely skimming another mountain range.

"GET YOUR HAND OFF THE BOOST BUTTON!"

"I CAN'T! IT'S STUCK!"

They were zipping through the mountain ranges, the Ragnarock a blur. The boost button had gotten stuck in the down position so the engines were on full throttle. Squall was jerking the steering wheel left and right trying to avoid the mountains.

He was trying to pull up but the steering functions had also been jammed, making it almost impossible to move upwards.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief as they entered a bare plain except for one object…

"Hey Squall, what is that place?"

"That's…TRABIA GARDEN!"

Cid's Office:

Cid looked over the people gathered in his office. All of Squall's friends including Seifer were there.

"Everyone, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the storm has finally died down."

"So we can go and get Squall right?" asked Selphie eagerly.

"Well… that brings us to the second part. The bad news is the Ragnarock has also been found. Heading straight towards Trabia Garden. They contacted us when they saw the ship."

"What's so bad about that?" asked Quistis.

"You misunderstand me. The Ragnarock is going full power towards Trabia Garden without any indication of stopping."

"Is the communicator back online?" asked Selphie suddenly.

"Yes I believe it is." Selphie's image suddenly disappeared and reappeared by the communications device.

"Squall? Squall? Can you hear me?"

All of a sudden a feminine voice came over the communicator.

"We're sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hand up and try again."

Selphie brought out her Nunchaku and hit the machine several times, finally getting an answer.

"Squall can you hear me?"

A masculine voice answered this time, "What?"

Selphie fiddled with some dials, "Can you hear me now?"

"I can't hear what your saying!" the voice shouted back.

Making a few more adjustments Selphie tried again, "Can you hear me now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now what the hell are you doing?" she shouted, "We just rebuilt that place don't wreck it again!"

There was some fumbling and a female voice came over the system, "Look, I'm really sorry but we're gonna have to cut this short. Were trying not to get killed at the moment, so we gotta go."

The communicator went dead.

Everyone in the room was silent for a few seconds, "Who was that?" asked Rinoa.

No one had an answer for her.

A/N: Short chapter with not much happening but it's the holidays so cut me some slack. In the next chapter we find out if Squall and Shiva survive (stupid question really) their ride and Squall confronts his father.

Please drop a review on the way out to tell me what you think.

Cheers.


	14. Guardian Fury: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I know disclaimers get on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know disclaimers get on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes! I know dis… **SMASH!**

Squall: Will you shut up? 

A/N: Ahem. Well anyway, now that I have had sufficient time to recharge my brain, I introduce to you the next chapter of Guardian Fury.

There was some fumbling and a female voice came over the system, "Look, I'm really sorry but we're gonna have to cut this short. Were trying not to get killed at the moment, so we gotta go."

The communicator went dead.

Everyone in the room was silent for a few seconds, "Who was that?" asked Rinoa.

No one had an answer for her.

Shiva and Squall were still struggling with the steering wheel as they rocketed towards Trabia Garden.

All of a sudden a loud snap was heard and the steering column snapped off and sent Shiva and Squall tumbling to the ground with the ice queen on top of him, holding the remains of the steering shaft.

Fortunately in their last ditch effort the machine had angled slightly upwards, just barely skimming the top of the garden.

"Well," spoke Squall as if he was talking about the weather, "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

Shiva instantly went from a prone position to one where the had her hands around Squall's neck, "WASN'T SO BAD? YOU NEARLY GOT US KILLED!"

"It's…cough…part of…cough…the job!" he protested.

The ice queen stopped strangling Squall but her hands didn't leave his neck, "You job is to STAY ALIVE! That means the opposite of death!"

"Hey, you were with me on my adventures so why are you so freaked out? This kind of stuff happens all the time."

Shiva calmed a bit, "Well, your right. I guess I'm just not used to a front row seat of the action."

It was then that the two finally noticed their position. Shiva was straddling a prone Squall with her hands around his neck in a very suggestive position.

Squall looked up at Shiva who shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "As much as I enjoy our position I think we should keep our mind on the task at hand."

The Seed commander had to work very hard to keep from blushing as Shiva got up and got back into the co-pilots seat. Squall limped over and sat back down in the pilots seat. Picking up the communicator he contacted the garden.

"Headmaster Cid, this is Squall Leonheart calling in. Do you read me?"

Some static then a reply, "This is headmaster cid, you're on speaker. Mind telling me what the hell you're doing?

"Trying to stay alive sir. The Ragnarock controls are malfunctioning."

"I'll send in a call to Esthar to let them know of your status. They're the only ones that can do a midair rescue."

A loud beeping sound alerted Squall to the dash again. This time the fuel light was blinking. There was silence on the other end for a while, then…

"Do I even want to know what that was?" asked Cid sarcastically.

Squall leaned forward and banged his head on the dash not really caring about anything at the moment, "No sir, not really."

"Just make sure you hit the water instead of a city. Good luck. Over and out."

Tired and waterlogged Shiva and Squall came ashore near the town of Dollet.

"Well, that wasn't so bad was it?" asked Shiva.

"…"

"I mean any landing you can walk away from is a good one right?"

"…."

"At least you didn't hit Dollet."

"….."

"Your still alive right?"

"………………"

The Ragnarock was totaled. Anyone who looked at it would not recognize it as an airship anymore, rather a scrap pile. Since the controls had been destroyed they were unable to control their decent and ended up crashing on the beach instead of in the water. The ship had continued right into the mountains after skidding for several yards along the ground.

Bottom line, the thing was a metal graveyard.

Amazingly they had both gotten off real light. Squall and Shiva had the sense to move to the back of the ship and jump out of the airlock before the thing actually crashed into the mountains.

"Are you okay Squall?"

Wincing in pain Squall answered, "I've…had better days."

Let's just say that the fall was not kind to Squall's injuries.

"Shiva, you know as soon as we get to Dollet there's going to be a crowd of people wanting to know what's going on."

"So? What's your point?"

"If we want to keep this mission under wraps you cant go in looking like that."

Shiva looked down at herself and nodded, "Hmm, I guess blue skin does manage to stand out in a crowd."

Shiva concentrated for a few seconds and then disappeared completely.

"What the-"

Squall can you hear me? The voice had come from inside his head.

"Shiva? Where are you?"

I'm in the place GF's go when your not using them. 

"That's good. I don't feel like explaining things just yet."

Try thinking to me instead of talking, unless you want people thinking that you're talking to yourself. 

Squall focused his thoughts Like this? 

Perfect 

Making slower progress than before, Squall limped the rest of the way to Dollet where he was met by half the town guard and the mayor.

"Is that your ship?"

Being supported by two guards Squall nodded.

The mayor addressed the guards, "Get this man some medical attention. Questions later."

Squall vaguely remembered being half-carried to a medical ward and lying down on a bed. He did, however, vividly remember the dream he had that night, if you could call it that.

Squall opened his eyes but he still saw darkness. He could feel and see his body but his surroundings were blank.

'Where am I?'

"Your in a subspace pocket where the GF's live when not being used." Came a reply.

Looking behind him Squall saw Shiva standing a short distance away from him.

"Why's it all dark?"

"Because this is your mind. If you think of something, then it will happen. For instance, you already pictured yourself in your clothes so you're already wearing them."

Squall looked at himself and realized Shiva was right. Experimenting, Squall pictured his Gunblade, and instantly it appeared by his side. Nodding in satisfaction he banished it back to wherever it came from.

Looking again at the darkness surrounding him Squall pictured a room with two comfortable chairs and a couple couches with a fireplace. He had seen it in a magazine once. Suddenly, the room appeared.

"Ahh…much better. You have no idea how dull darkness it." Shiva sat down on one of the chairs and motioned Squall to sit on the other one.

Squall didn't beat around the bush, "So what is it?"

Shiva sighed, "Straight to the point as always. You really need to learn to relax a little bit."

"I take my missions seriously."

"Yeah well your going to be on this mission for a long time so take it easy. I'm surprised that expression hasn't locked on your face."

Squall twitched.

"Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about was that I'm sensing the Siren guardian around this area."

"Do you know where she is?"

"In Dollet." She said simply.

Noticing Squalls incredulous look she amended, "I can't get an exact fix on her location, however it is likely that her soul is also being guarded by a monster."

"There's only one place where monsters would be in Dolett, and that's the communication tower."

Shiva nodded, "Then we'll head there once you wake up," Squall turned to leave but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, "Oh and Squall?"

Squall looked over his shoulder.

"Cheer up. There's more to life than work. Live a little." Saying this she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before disappearing.

Not much can surprise Squall Leonheart. When he learned of Ultimecia he barely batted an eyelash. Even when Seifer had gate crashed the presidents speech at Timber he had hardly been surprised at all.

This however, left him standing stock still for about 2 minutes before he finally regained conscious thought. Even after he thought about it, he was still confused.

'The bottom of the sea is easier to fathom than the mind of a woman,' Squall thought to himself, 'I need some sleep,' tuning out his surroundings Squall drifted off to sleep.

Squall, wake up. 

No response.

Blink if you can hear me. 

Squall turned over in his sleep.

WAKE UP SQUALL! 

In a fluid motion Squall jumped out of bed and grabbed his gunblade, scaring the hell out of a nurse who was bringing him breakfast, causing her to drop the tray, causing a doctor walking in the opposite direction to slip on the mess and fall down a staircase, scaring an old guy out of his wits, which caused him to have a seizure.

Oops. 

Even though Squall couldn't see Shiva, he could almost imagine her sheepish look.

With a thought that somehow was able to project Squall's icy cold demeanor, he thought back, Don't do that again. 

An hour later found Squall in the office building of the mayor.

"Well glad to see you healed up nicely," he said cheerfully, "Drink?"

Squall shook his head.

"Very well then. Now I feel that we must address the situation of your illegally crashed aircraft. You are a Seed are you not?"

The man spoke elegantly and formally like a person of high rank normally would. He was a nondescript type of person who fit into the perfect stereotype of a mayor.

"Yes." Squall answered.

"Well then, I don't see too much of a problem with the accident as long as the Garden is willing to remove the wreckage. I am inclined not to press charges due to the help your garden provided in that nasty business with the communication tower."

"Thank you sir."

"Now that that's out of the way, were you planning on leaving or did you have some other business here?"

Don't tell him about your mission here. If too many people know then Omega weapon might start his attack before we're ready. 

Squall chose his words carefully, "I have…business that I need to attend to here."

The mayor nodded in understanding, "One of those top secret mission eh? I understand. Although I must warn you, the communications tower is still under the control of Galbadia and they don't react kindly to intruders."

Outside of the office:

So why cant we tell anyone about this? I understand the need for secrecy but surely a few people knowing wouldn't hurt. questioned Squall.

Maybe. Maybe not. Omega weapon was the one who sealed us all away in the first place. Every time we destroy one of his monsters and free a GF he will feel the connection being broken. 

Then why hasn't he found me and killed me yet? 

To put it plainly, you're small. Insignificant. But you're powerful enough to defeat his monsters. That's why you're the only one suited for this job. If more people gain awareness then we will be easier to track. 

Although he didn't like being called insignificant, Squall had to admit Shiva had a point. Compared to the GF's his power was relatively small. They walked in silence for a minute before Squall thought of something else.

Hey Shiva, any idea on how to get past the guard? 

Not really. 

The finally approached the town square where Seifer and the party had decided to disobey orders to go to the communications tower. As usual, the guard was standing there, denying access to anyone who approached.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid I cant let you pass."

'The heck? Something about that voice sounds familiar'

"Hey wait a sec… I recognize you!"

Then it clicked, "Wedge? Is that you?"

"S…s…Squall?" the voice was shaky.

"Long time no see. Last time we met you were beating the crap out of your CO."

Squall swore he could see steam rising off of the man's helmet.

"I was demoted to guard duty because of you! You're the reason I'm standing here day in and day out guarding this stupid path! DIE!"

The shout was all the warning Squall needed to sidestep the sword swing. He then casually drew his gunblade and blocked the swing to his back.

"Chill out man. I just want to go to the communication tower."

"Oh so now you're trying to ruin me again by getting by me! Well not this time!"

He hadn't sensed any magic go off but he was sure that someone had cast a berserk spell on him. His attacks were full of power but had little accuracy to them and Squall easily batted them aside.

He doesn't seem to like you very much. thought Shiva conversationally.

Meh. I've seen worse. 

Thinking that he had toyed with him enough Squall ended the fight with a swift punch to the jaw, knocking him out instantly.

Well, that solves that problem. said Squall as he walked unhindered down the path to the tower.

Concentrating for a moment Squall summoned Shiva from subspace.

"So, what do we do now?"

In response Shiva summoned a spear of ice much like the one Edea had impaled with him and threw it in such a way that it passed within an inch of Squall's unmoving head.

Squall slowly turned around to see an Anacondaur impaled by the icicle.

"Take out your weapon, the cavalry has arrived."

A/N: A little late, even for my standards. Hope you liked the chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and please continue to do so.


	15. Guardian Fury: Chapter 5

A/N: I don't abandon fics. I never abandon fics. I give them my utmost concentration until they are…hey what's that over there?

Without further ado, Guardian Fury, Chapter 5

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Squall had never really abused the power of the Guardian Forces. In his day-to-day fights, he had relied mostly on his gunblade skills, to keep his fighting skills sharp. After all, if he were ever in a position where he couldn't use his GF's, he wouldn't want to be helpless. After all, with the way things were going it didn't look like he was going to keep them forever.

Besides, using the GF's on anything short of heavy machinery and demons was like a crutch, or the very least overkill. There was still a blackened crater outside of Balamb garden from the first time he summoned Ifrit after his trials at the fire cavern. In retrospect, it reminded him of the analogy "hunting a fly with a shotgun."

Not to mention people complained about the damage. And insurance companies were a pain in the ass to deal with. You destroy one city and they get on your case for life. Sheesh…

The simple fact was however, that Shiva simply had no sense of the word control. Her power was spectacular but her moves were easy to predict. Not to mention wasteful in terms of energy.

Squall put a hand to his head in exasperation as Shiva destroyed another monster with her signature 'Diamond Dust' attack. Several hundred shards of ice pierced the snake like creature, continuing on through him and into the rocks.

"Shiva? Have you ever heard of restraint? Or overkill for that matter?"

Shiva looked at him in confusion.

"I'm talking about your fighting style," he explained, "It's a colossal waste of energy, not to mention a public hazard."

"What are you talking about? No one's around here and I've only used a little of my power reserves."

Squall sighed and stared off into the sunset, as if reminiscing about something long ago, "My adventure started out simple. Become a Seed and work with the garden as a mercenary for hire. Then I was drawn into this long and tiring adventure going through cave, and dungeon, and castle alike."

Turning around, Squall began to walk up the path with Shiva following behind him, "There will come a time, when you start on any grand quest, where you will need every resource and piece of energy available to you. And when that time comes, you'll be glad you saved your strength."

"…Did anyone ever tell you your really pessimistic?" asked Shiva.

"No. They just think it loudly."

"Ever try looking at the bright side of things?"

"What bright side?" asked Squall sarcastically.

"Seriously though. We're just going up the mountain. What's the worst that could happen?"

A loud boom and a small rumbling sound was her answer. Looking up at the cliffs she saw some rocks fly loose and tumble down the steep slope of the mountainside. The rumbling sound died down for a few seconds before it suddenly got louder. Then the ground started shaking.

Squall put his hand to his head in exasperation. Shiva had just broken the #1 rule of adventuring. Never ever ever ever ever **_ever_** say anything along the lines of "Can this get any worse?" Because it always will.

 **CRASH!**

Squall winced as a particularly large stone broke off from the mountain and fell on to the communications tower, now in view. The base gone, the tower came crashing down on the cliff face. There was an amazing light show display before the tower exploded in flames, like a beacon around the countryside.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked sourly. Shiva didn't answer.

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Wedge shook his head and tried to clear the haze his bout with Squall had induced, 'God damnit,' he thought angrily, 'At this rate, I'll be demoted to janitor if Squall keeps screwing up my life like this.' He was the only guard stationed there, so if things went wrong, he'd take the blame.

Slowly he got to his feet and resumed his guard post. He decided to put the incident with Squall out of his head. After all, as long as no one from headquarters heard about the news, it would be ok right?

 **BOOM!**

The shockwave sent him stumbling forward into the nearby fountain. Fortunately, he was able to regain his balance before falling in. 

'Please god,' he prayed silently to himself, 'Please don't let that be what I think it is.'

Turning around, Wedge saw the communications tower in flames.

Letting out an anguished cry, Wedge grabbed his sword and ran up the path.

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"Squall! The Siren is nearby!"

The Seed had already drawn his gunblade and was looking around for the monster that had caused the avalanche. The area was now buried in stone, the point of the satellite dish sticking up at an odd angle above the rubble.

Everything else in the small valley was buried. Fortunately, that small valley had filled up and stopped the avalanche from reaching the cliff face that Squall and Shiva currently stood on.

Squall scanned the terrain, searching with both his eyes and his senses for the enemy. It confused him a bit, as there was nowhere to hide on this now open terrain, and considering the size of the last monster…

His senses alerted him to an attack half a second before it came. Shouting a warning to Shiva, Squall rolled left and brought his gunblade in a block position above his head, as a force impacted it, sending sparks off from the blade and knocking him backwards a few feet.

Getting back up into a sitting position, Squall saw Shiva square off with the…huh?

The ice queen had constructed a shield around herself. His eyes widened as he saw several deep gashes appear in the ice as though someone had clawed at it, but no one was standing there.

Squall jumped up and charged at his invisible opponent, striking where he though s/he would be. He was unsurprised when his blade clashed on solid air. Twisting his blade free, Squall thrusted at the approximate location of where his opponent should have been, but his blade passed through air.

He braced himself for an attack behind, but then Shiva's shield exploded outwards, sending shards of ice in a huge attack radius. Squall quickly covered his face with his arms, expecting to be hit with the shards as well, but the ice impacted a solid barrier, rather the monster that was standing in front of him.

"What the hell?" asked Squall quietly, as he backed up towards Shiva, his gunblade in the guard position, "Why is she invisible? I thought that the Siren's element was silence."

"The silence can mean many things," Shiva explained to him, "Silence is without sound, without sight, and is undetectable. You only notice her, because she is not the true Siren."

A horrible screeching sound, like nails on a chalkboard, echoed off the canyon walls, and redoubled on itself, making the whole mountain ring with the noise. A few rocks that still hung on to the cliff face were dislodged as well.

"That doesn't really sound like a siren." Squall deadpanned, removing his hands from his ears once the scream was over.

Suddenly, the ice shards that seemed to be floating in air dropped to the ground and shattered. A gray cloud of mist arose and swirled around the invisible creature, seeming to suck the very light out of the air around it.

Then the cloud exploded, leaving a figure in the center.

In all his traveling, Squall had never seen an uglier woman. If he had, he had mercifully forgotten her face.

The thing in front of them sort of resembled a human, with the exception of two black wings protruding from her back. The woman, or creature rather, was gray skinned with yellow eyes. In the place of hands, there were long yellow claws. Her gray hair was tangled, and her face was distorted, an ugly expression permanently branded on it.

Neither side moved for a moment. It was a face-off, seeing who would act first, waiting for the other party to take action. Finally, Shiva spoke.

"Foul creature," she spoke menacingly, her easygoing caring nature replaced by her ice queen persona that she was known for, "Release your hold upon the Siren's spirit!" As she spoke, the air temperature seemed to drop around them, making Squall shiver involuntarily.

The creature spoke, showing a row of yellow and decaying teeth, "Fool! You hold no power over me!"

"That may be true, but if you surrender now, I may ease your passing into the dark realm foul creature!"

"Even if the likes of you were enough to even threaten me, the power of Ultima Weapon will destroy you!"

Shiva was about to begin another tirade, but Squall coughed lightly into his fist, "As much as I like listening to these soliloquies, we're really not getting anywhere so can we skip to the action you 'fowl' creature?"

Both girls seemed to consider this for a moment before they each gave half a shrug, "Sure, why not?"

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'Nothing happens here for 2 years and 1 week after I get posted here Squall comes and…'

Wedge continued to think mutinously to himself as he threaded his way past the beasts and up the mountain. Fortunately a majority of the monsters were feeling the short avalanche and were not looking for a fight.

'I'll be lucky to be able to stay on as a guard after this! Damn you Squall, I was doing fine until you showed up.'

"Squall! Because of you, I've seen hell!" He finally shouted out loud. Unfortunately this alerted a large group of Anacondaurs to his presence.

"Damn you Squall!" He shouted before running as fast as he could up the mountain slope.

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Squall blinked once, and the Siren was gone, faded into the fog that had slowly built up during their discussion, unnoticed by both of them until it was too late.

"Damnit! I can't see a thing in this stuff!"

Out of nowhere, blows started coming. Squall could see her image one second but then it would be gone the next. Shiva took several glancing blows before being hit in the stomach and knocked to the ground.

"Shiva!" Swinging wildly, Squall was rewarded with a lucky cut on the harpies shoulder.

"I'm fine! But we need to clear this fog!"

"Stand back!"

Reaching into his stores of magic, Squall drew out a small portion of fire magic.

 **WHAM!**

And stood still for a second too long. Managing to stay on his feet even though he was in pain, Squall completed his spell.

"FIRE AURA!"

The spell wasn't like a regular fire spell. Instead of a concentrated blast, it was more of a fiery shield that quickly expanded outwards, burning the fog away.

"Ow!"

Oops.

"Damnit Squall! At least give me a little warning first!" Shiva had jumped away from Squall onto the cliff face, sporting a few burns.

"I see you have seen through another of my clever tricks mortal! Perhaps I have underestimated you." The voice seemed to come from everywhere, redoubling off the canyon walls.

Squall brushed some imaginary dirt off his shoulder, "My name is Squall. And don't you forget it," his gunblade glowed blue with focused chi, "Because I'm the last mortal your gonna meet!"

"Confident are we?" The voice was mocking.

"You bet!"

'Shiva!' Squall spoke in his mind, 'Where is she?'

There was a moments pause before Shiva responded, 'Behind you!' she nearly shouted.

Squall's blade erupted in light as he went into the first stage of the lionheart. With a shout, he swung behind him in a full circle.

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Wedge finally crested the hill at the top of the mountain, just as Squall was unleashing his finishing move.

'What the…who is he fighting?'

It looked like Squall was shadowboxing or going through a form, but this was different. Every time Squall swung he could see a discharge of energy when the extended blade connected.

'The person's invisible?'

It was a mixture of awe and horror at the same time. It was graceful and deadly, even more powerful then their blasted GF helpers. Speaking of GFs…

Wedge looked around the battle scene again and saw Shiva, sitting in a meditative position a distance from the actual fight.

'That's a GF! I'd recognize Shiva anywhere! But…what's it doing?'

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Shiva sat and concentrated. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost see the full being of the Siren-monster. As it was, she could see her well enough to tell Squall where she was.

Squall timed his combo perfectly. The monster was unsuspecting of an attack and was caught off guard. With a single sweep he knocked her into the air and jumped after her, unloading several hits while he was in midair, the sheer energy coming off each strike enough to keep him airborne.

With a final flourish and explosion, Squall finished off the combo and began to fall gently back to earth. Unfortunately…

 **WHAM!**

For the second time that day, Squall found himself doubling over in midair. He had forgotten about the wings.

Shiva tried to warn him, but there was little he could do after the first strike. Blows rained down on him fast and hard, speeding up his decent towards the ground. Some point during the combo the harpy had dropped her invisibility, and began pummeling Squall with a malicious grin.

Finally, she cupped her hands together and brought them down. Hard.

Squall rolled in midair to take the fall on his back rather than his front, but it sill left him incapacitated.

Rolling over, Squall saw the harpy charging up one of her blasts. It was colorless, but seemed to distort the air around it, sucking it in and bending it into a ball shape. With an inhuman laugh, she let it loose.

Summoning his strength and biting back the pain, Squall rolled to the side just as the blast hit the ground, kicking up rubble and throwing him off to the side.

Quickly assessing himself, Squall found that his left arm couldn't move without intense pain. Glancing up from his prone position on the ground he saw the Siren charging another blast. He made the effort but he already knew he couldn't avoid it.

"ICICLE BLAST!"

There is a saying that goes, "Learn from the mistakes of others, as you don't have time to make them all yourself." The harpy apparently, had not learned that lesson from Squall, and had stood in one place for too long.

Unfortunately for Shiva, the blast had to go somewhere, and this one traveled straight into the cliff face, starting another small avalanche and burying Shiva under it. A large rock hit her on the head and she knew no more.

The harpy had not gotten off easy though. Her right wing was nearly torn off, while the left wing had several holes. Having lost the power of flight, the Siren careened into the rocks below.

With a grunt, Squall staggered to his feet, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side, the right holding his gunblade. He was unsurprised when the harpy rose as well.

There were small cuts all over her body, while the lionheart had left a large X shaped scar on her belly, bleeding freely. If he had been able to see her back, he would have also seen several wounds there as well.

Without fanfare, forewarning or any remote trace of skill, Squall lunged forward, swinging the gunblade clumsily. Squall was tired, but so was the harpy, and they both knew it.

Squall didn't know if GF's even had adrenaline, but the Harpy was able to dodge, if barely. Weak from blood loss, the gunblade fell from his fingers and his feet stumbled from under him.

Rolling over, Squall saw the harpy pick up his gunblade, "An interesting weapon," she said mockingly, "But utterly useless in the end." She threw the gunblade behind her.

The gunblade master put on his coldest look. If he were going to die, he would die fighting. His right hand groped for a rock, and found one that fit his hand perfectly. Summoning the last of his strength, he chucked it at her head.

She didn't dodge this one.

If it was possible, the face became even uglier. The yellowed teeth became fangs and the eyes shone a blood red. Raising a hand, energy slowly gathered in her palm, aiming directly for his head, "You Die now Mortal!"

 **SHINK!**

There was a hiss of steel, and Squalls gunblade was suddenly protruding through the harpy's chest.

"Actually," commented Wedge as if he was talking about the weather, "I think it's a nice weapon really." With that, he pulled the trigger.

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Cid massaged his head. He had just gotten a call from the Dollet mayor, about his 'illegally parked aircraft.' Fortunately they weren't holding him responsible for it, as long as he cleaned it up. Good thing he was on good terms with Laguna.

No sooner had he called Esthar to ask for assistance, that he had gotten another call, telling him that the communications tower was destroyed. He was asked firmly, politically, and politely, just what they hell his man was doing up there. They weren't satisfied with his answer.

Running out of options, he had dispatched Squall's friends with orders to 'render assistance in any way they could.' Seeing how they didn't have the Ragnarock anymore, he had dispatched them by boat.

That was half an hour ago. And the phone was ringing again. Cid slowly beat his head against the wooden desk. Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

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A/N: Longest chapter to date. Hoped you liked the fight scene. I appreciate the support from all the people who reviewed my story.

Feel free to drop a review on your way out.


	16. Guardian Fury: Chapter 6

A/N: Update time already huh? I know what most of you were thinking. WTF took you so long? Well, to tell you the truth…

Squall: Like hell he will…

ClanCrusher: Shut up. Anyways, a while back, some aliens came to earth with the intention of conquering it. After a long hard drawn out and ridiculously pointless battle, I was able to drive off the aliens with my brother's smelly underwear. And that's what took me so long to update.

Squall: You don't even have a brother.

ClanCrusher: …

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"How long will it be before we reach shore?" asked Irvine.

"20 minutes," responded Quistis.

Squall's friends were a far cry from their usual attitudes.

Irvine had his custom rifle loaded and primed, carrying it over one shoulder, his eyes alert.

Selphie had changed into her seed uniform, which was better suited for combat then her usual attire. Her nun-chucks were draped across her shoulders ready to be called into action in a moment's notice.

Rinoa was checking over her magic stores for the third time, prepping them to be cast instantly.

Zell was also strangely quiet, seeming to mentally prepare himself for the task ahead, rather than make jokes and goof off.

Quistis was in full 'instructor mode' with her mind completely focused on the task that was coming.

"Man, what's gotten into you guys?"

Everyone turned to face Seifer. It was kind of surprising that he had volunteered to come in the first place, but by his reasoning, "anything that could take out the communications tower would be a worthy fight."

"I dunno," said Zell offhandedly, "I think I'm just gearing myself for the worst case scenario."

"Puh-lease," scoffed Seifer, "Were talking about the world hero, our commander. I'd be more worried about you guys."

"And why's that?" asked Quistis incredulously.

"That guy just lived through an ice storm, a plane crash, an avalanche, the tower explosion and god knows what else. I don't think you'd be able to handle that."

No one bothered to say anything. Instead, all of them turned towards the fast approaching land.

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The harpy stood stock still, not even looking down at the gunblade that was now sticking out of her chest.

SHINK!

In one swift movement Wedge pulled the gunblade from the Sirens body, then made a horizontal slice to behead her completely.

Shouldering the gunblade, Wedge calmly walked over to where Squall was lying, bloody and bruised, "You know, for once I can't really see how this could possibly be your fault."

"Well…that's good I guess," Squall was abruptly cut off as the pain all over his body made itself known.

"Keep still, you're bleeding pretty bad."

"I…have…cure…" he told Wedge, the words coming in between laborious breaths, "Draw it…from me…"

Reaching past Squall's defenses on his magic, Wedge carefully drew out the healing magic and used it on him, his superficial wounds healing rapidly and the bruises fading into healthy skin.

"I can't fix your broken arm. Something about that harpy's dark energy is fighting back against the healing magic."

"Stomach…hurts…"

Wedge thought for a second before drawing scan magic out from Squall's stock and using it on him, only to find…

"Squall! You have an internal cut!"

As if to punctuate his statement, the seed started hacking and coughing, spitting up blood all over Wedge's uniform. It was a credit to the soldier that he didn't even flinch.

"I'm…sorry Squall. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Its…ok…you tried." This was followed by another round of coughing. When he finally stopped, he continued, "Tell…Shiva…sorry."

"This is the part where I come in."

Wedge stood up shocked, and turned around to come face to face with the Guardian Force Siren.

Siren was easily the most beautiful GF that Wedge, or anyone else for that matter, had seen. She had two golden wings, tipped with purple on the ends, protruding from her head while the same golden colored hair ran down her back.

The body of the Siren couldn't have been more exposed if she had tried. Aside from two seashells covering her breasts and another pair covering her lower section, the siren was completely naked.

Stepping carefully over the rocks, the Siren brought her harp out from behind her back and began to play, walking towards Squall.

The Seed soldier propped himself painfully on his good arm and looked as the siren continued to walk towards him playing a beautiful, indescribable melody. Energy started flowing from the harp and into Squall's body.

And then, his whole body began to heal, and not just his wounds either. His internal cuts began to heal themselves and his broken arm reset itself. But it didn't stop there. All this time the Siren had been walking towards him and now she knelt right next to him. Slowly with a glowing green finger, Siren traced the scar on Squall's forehead.

Confused, Squall reached his hand up to his head and felt…nothing?

"You…you got rid of my scar?"

Smiling, Siren nodded at him. Offering him a hand, Squall took it and stood up, his body feeling 100.

"SIREN!"

The shout was the only warning Siren got before she was tackled by a blue blur in a fierce bear hug.

"Shiva? How on earth did you get free?"

"The same way you did, Squall over there helped me by defeating the monster my soul was trapped in."

"So I guess that I have you to thank for this then?" she asked turning her head towards Squall.

The mercenary shrugged his shoulders unconcerned, "You saved my life, and I freed you. Seems like a fair trade to me."

"Nonsense, it's partly my fault why I had to save you in the first place."

Gently freeing herself from her sister's death embrace, the siren began walking towards Squall again.

"Um…what are you MPHHPH!"

Nearly 10 years of training to become a Seed and another two years of traveling and fighting abroad could not prepare Squall for this situation. The Siren had come up and kissed him right on the lips, her tongue darting past Squall's non-existent, and shattered defenses.

"H…hey what are you doing?" shouted Shiva.

Siren continued the kiss for a few more moments before answering her, "I'm just thanking my rescuer."

"Um…guys?" cut in Wedge uncertainly.

"That doesn't mean you can just go lip locking with him! You barely know him!"

"So does that mean you can do it since you do know him?"

"Um…hey guys?"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is your point?"

"My point is…well…um…"

"GUYS!"

Suddenly everyone turned and stared at Wedge.

"Um, there are people coming, so unless you want to be seen…"

Siren and Shiva vanished, leaving Wedge and Squall standing alone on the pile of rubble.

"So uh…you wanna tell me what the hell this is all about?"

"We'd like to know that too." Squall's gang had arrived, and Seifer was in front.

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 _Squall! You need to get everyone down from the mountain._

 _Why?_

 _You remember how you and Shiva had to wait out an ice storm when you freed her?_

 _Yeah. She said that she caused it because she had a power buildup and…oh s#+_

 _Hurry._

"Damn man," said Seifer walking up to Squall, "From the way the rumors were going we thought you'd be dead twice over by now."

"Well, that wasn't too far off," he shrugged even as the rest of his group had crested the hill.

"Definitely your handiwork Squall," commented Zell, looking around at the metal and rocks strewn about everywhere, "Glad to see you haven't lost your touch."

"I'm just glad that your dad insured the Ragnarock," Said Quistis, cresting the hill.

"Um guys, we need to get off the mountain, right now." He hoped that he put enough urgency into his voice to get them to follow him without question.

No such luck.

"Hey partner, what's the rush? We just climbed all the way up here and were not climbing down without an explanation."

 _Squall, hurry! We only have a few more minutes before the discharge!_

Squall reached out and took the gunblade from Wedge, putting it back in the holster on his back, "There will be time for that later. We need to go now."

"And why's that?" asked Rinoa, "What's so bloody secret that you can't tell us about it huh?"

 _Squall!_

 _I'm trying!_

And then, an absolutely ridiculous idea came to Squall's mind. So crazy, that it could actually work.

"Well, I'd tell you but…" everyone listened closely as Squall softened his voice, hanging on to his every word, "You have to catch me first."

With that, Squall called upon the power of both GF's and leaped over their heads, running down the mountain at full speed.

Selphie sweatdropped as everyone else picked themselves up from the massive facefault, "I think our commander's gone crazy."

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 _They'll have to catch you first? Where the hell did you pull that from?_

 _Well it worked didn't it?_

Running behind him was Wedge, Seifer, and the rest of his group. Fortunately, thanks to the Siren's treatment, Squall was nearly at full power while his friends were still tired from their climb up the mountain.

Finally, the group came to the bridge connecting the town's main square and the mountain.

 _This should be far enough,_ said the Siren, _The effects of the adrenaline boost I gave you should be wearing off right about now too._

Right on cue, Squall's legs collapsed out from under him.

 _The hell? I thought you healed me!_

 _I did, but you always need to rest after a healing to let it set in. What I gave you was a little boost so that you could get off the mountain before things got ugly._

"Alright Squall, we caught you. Now tell us what's going on."

Breathing heavily, Squall weakly raised a hand and pointed at the top of the mountain. Everyone followed his finger.

In his life, Squall had seen many explosions, every one of them loud and colorful. This explosion was neither of those.

For one second, all the noise around them stopped, as if their ears didn't register anything. Then, there was a huge distortion in the air, like rippling heat waves, starting at the top of the mountain and traveling downwards towards the base.

And then, the entire mountain blew up.

Sound returned in a rush as enormous rocks began to fall all around them, miraculously missing the bridge and the people on it. The entire scene of destruction only lasted a few minutes but in the eyes of the observers it seemed to last an eternity.

As the last of the rocks laid to rest in the pile of rubble that used to be the mountain, everyone turned back towards the Seed, shocked expressions on their faces. Squall only gave them a small smirk before passing out completely.

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Squall leaned back in the armchair he had envisioned for himself while Shiva and Siren reclined on a couch in front of him. There was a pleasant fire going in the fireplace in the room, making the entire affair quite comfortable.

"Well," said Squall nonchalant, "That could have gone better."

"Really? How so?" Asked the Siren, "After all, you did free me."

"Well, to tack on to my extensive damage list, I've caused a whiteout in Shumi Village, crashed an insanely expensive airship on the Dollet beach, destroyed the communications tower which belonged to our worst enemies, and blew up a god damn mountain. I don't know about you Shiva, but I think our so called 'secrecy' has been blown to hell."

"No one has seen us though," put in Shiva, "That's something."

"Except Wedge, and he's duty bound to report it to his superior officer, and it's only a matter of time before Galbadia comes knocking on Balamb's door, demanding my head on a platter."

"Do you think that you need to silence him?" asked Shiva suddenly.

Although it surprised Squall that Shiva was the one who had asked him, Squall had already thought about it, "No. I'm going to make Wedge an offer he can't refuse."

"It had better work," put in Siren, "He may have saved your life but he is insignificant compared to the rest of the world."

"If you cannot guarantee his silence," continued Shiva, "Then we will silence him for you."

Although anyone looking at Squall wouldn't have noticed it, the Seed felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine. These women were serious. Deadly serious.

"You won't have to," assured Squall, "Now I'd really like to get some rest before everyone else tries to pound the story out of me."

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For the first time in his life, Wedge was able to sleep in. Every day he had been in the Glabadian army, his life was lived from one boring day of guard duty to the next, waking up early and going to bed late.

But now, the communication tower wasn't even there anymore. If HQ wanted him to guard a pile of rubble then they could stick it where the sun don't shine. He earned his rest.

"Hey Wedge, you up?"

 _God damnit, just let me sleep for once._

Then he realized who the voice belonged to.

"Squall? Is that you?"

"We need to talk. Get your stuff together."

The soldier really didn't want to get out of bed, but if Squall was willing to talk then maybe he could get some answers to the questions that he had.

Wedge followed Squall out of the infirmary and onto the beach. It wasn't even 5:00 AM and the whole city was quiet, the shoreline deserted.

"So are you going to answer my questions now? Like what the hell I stabbed up there?"

"I'll answer your questions in a bit, but first I have a couple questions to ask you."

Despite his impatience, Wedge bit back his scathing remarks, "Okay, shoot."

"Now that you've messed up on your latest assignment, what do you plan on doing now?"

Wedge shrugged, "Quit the military and find a job somewhere I guess. I heard Esthar had some openings for soldiers and people with military training. What's the other question?"

"My other question is," Squall withdrew a small envelope he had prepared earlier that morning, "Do you want a job at Balamb Garden?" Casually, he tossed the envelope at Wedge who caught it out of the air.

Wedge, opened the envelope with shaking fingers. Inside was a letter of recommendation to headmaster Cid, along with an application for employment, "A job? But…why? I worked for the enemy."

"Two reasons. It is completely my fault that you're jobless right now and I feel kinda guilty," he admitted, "But the second, it because I think that you could be useful to us."

Wedge carefully sealed the envelope again before speaking, "How? I'm just a private…well I'm not even that anymore."

"You had to do something to be promoted to commander in chief to Biggs. Not to mention you hold the knowledge of all the tactics, strategies and training. I believe that making you a squad leader will be very beneficial to the garden as a whole."

The ex-private of the Galbadian army looked at the Seed commander with new respect, "I…I'll try not to let you down…sir." He added as an afterthought.

Squall merely saluted the new recruit and walked away.

Then Wedge realized something, "H-hey! What about my questions?" But Squall was already gone.

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At the mayor's office…

"Well, I suppose I should thank you," said the mayor cheerfully as he sat across from Squall.

"Why's that sir?" asked Squall genuinely confused.

"Now that that mountain is out of the way, we have more room for housing development along the beach. We've recently had a population upsurge but we didn't have any room to expand, but with a few renovations, we can sell the land you made as prime real estate. You turned the whole mountain into a plain."

 _Well isn't that lucky?_ Thought Siren,

"So…you're not angry about the communications tower being destroyed?"

The mayor let out a heartfelt laugh, "Why should I be? Its not like it belonged to me in the first place. Drink?" The politician had withdrawn a bottle from his desk full of amber liquid.

"No thanks. I don't take spirits. It turns me into someone I don't like."

The mayor nodded understandingly before pouring himself a glass, "I don't suppose that you could level the other mountain for us too? We could turn this place into a prime beach resort."

 _Who knows?_ Thought Shiva with a hint of mirth, _if we find another GF in the other mountain…_

 _I'd rather not go through this again._

 _You didn't like my kiss?_ Asked Siren innocently.

Squall mentally shut up.

"I won't bother asking you about your missions. I know all about the 'Top Secret' work and all that, but do you think that you'll be causing any more damage here?"

"No sir, I think my work is pretty much done. I'm leaving with the Esthar cleaning crew as soon as they show up."

The talk continued for a while, the mayor asking about how things were going on outside of his neck of the woods and other small talk like that. Finally, after extending an invitation to him to come back anytime, the mayor left to publicly address the town about the recent incident.

Picking up the phone on the mayors desk, Squall steeled himself dialed Headmaster Cid.

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1 hour later…

The mayor walked back into his office to find Squall still sitting in his "guest" chair. His phone was off the hook and resting on the polished desk.

"You're still here?" asked the Mayor puzzled.

"Yeah."

"Are you…waiting for something?"

"Yeah."

"And what are you waiting for?" demanded the mayor, slightly annoyed.

"For my boss to finish," At this Squall pointed at the receiver. Still puzzled the mayor picked up the phone and placed it to his ear…

…only to suddenly drop it as his eardrum nearly got blown out. Staring at the phone on the desk for a few seconds, the mayor turned to Squall.

"How long has he been at it?"

"Bout an hour now."

The mayor checked his watch.

"Wanna go have lunch?"

"Sure."

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A/N: And there you have it. Not a lot of action, more like the calm before the storm. Please leave a review before you hit the back button on your browser.


	17. Guardian Fury: Chapter 7

A/N: I really can't think of anything to say, so I'll just start the story.

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" _It's not going to be a big deal Squall. Just go in there and tell them the story we rehearsed. You have the perfect poker face, use it!"_ encouraged Shiva as Squall stood outside the meeting room.

" _I don't like lying to my friends though,"_ thought back Squall.

" _It's not lying, its excluding information that they don't need to know,"_ reassured Siren, _"Besides, if we want to keep this quest going without Omega Weapon dropping in on us midway then we need to keep our secrecy."_

Squall sighed, he had gone through this conversation several times with the Guardians and there didn't seem to be any way he could ease his friend's minds without lying to them.

Steeling himself, Squall opened the door and took a seat across from his friends.

"So Squall," spoke Quistis after a moment of silence, "What have you been up to?"

"I was just completing my mission that Headmaster Cid assigned me. There was a report of an ice monster near Shumi village and Cid wanted me to take care of it."

"But why didn't you tell any of us?" asked Rinoa suddenly, "You know we would have come with you,"

"Mr. Macho here probably thought that he could take the monster on all by himself," broke in Seifer, "He's been in the training center nearly every day since the defeat of Ultimeca."

"Actually, that's exactly what I was thinking," silence followed his statement, "Call it a little boredom reliever if you will,"

"Boredom reliever?" inquired Zell.

"There really isn't a need for war heroes in times of peace Zell."

"But what happened up on the mountain? What made that explosion?" asked Selphie.

"It was another one of those critters that I defeated on Shumi Island. After they die they have this nasty effect of self destructing. The one on Shumi Island was an ice monster and after I defeated it, I had to camp out in a cave for a few days while a huge blizzard passed. It was just dumb luck that I found out another one was here."

"Do you think there's any more of them?" asked Quistis.

"Probably not," assured Squall, "And besides, even if there were more of them, they don't go out of their way to attack humans. The two I fought were pretty much in abandoned areas."

Squall continued answering the questions his friends threw at him for the next 20 minutes. A corner of his mind noticed that Rinoa had stayed silent throughout the whole exchange but he didn't think too much about it.

"Well, if that's everything then, I need to go meet with the cleanup crew from Esthar…"

"Who was that woman who spoke on the radio?"

Squall stopped dead in his tracks.

 _Shiva, what the hell is she talking about?_

 _Oh crap_ responded Shiva _Remember when we were trying to get control over the Ragnarock and Cid contacted us?_

 _Don't tell me you…_

 _I did._

 _Well what do I do then?_

 _Play dumb._ Broke in Siren, _Just play it off as a malfunction in the communication system._

"Woman?" asked Squall, trying to sound as confused as he could, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" shouted Rinoa, standing up suddenly, "A woman's voice came over the speaker and said, 'We're trying not to get killed at the moment.'"

"Okay first of all," said Squall cutting her off abruptly, "Where in the hell would I pick up a woman when all I did was fly my ass straight into a blizzard after leaving base? And secondly, why would I take a civilian on a solo seed mission when there is a possibility of death?"

"I don't know," retorted Rinoa, "I'm the one who's asking here."

"As Cid may have already told you, this was a SOLO mission. That means there was no other human being with me."

 _Technically true_ thought Siren, _we're not exactly human are we?_

Rinoa sat down, but her expression said everything. Squall hadn't actually answered her question, he had just diverted her focus.

 _That girl is your X?_ Asked Siren.

 _Yeah._

 _  
Quite a handful isn't she?_

 _You have no idea._

 _So are you single now?_

 _Um…well…_

"Squall!"

"Hmm?" said Squall, suddenly looking up, "I'm sorry, I was thinking, what were you saying?"

Selphie rolled her eyes, "I said what are you going to do now? Is the mission over? Or are there more of those things?"

Squall was about to respond when a sudden inspiration hit him, "Actually, yes. I am coming back to the garden. Really no point in sticking around here now that those things are dead."

"Aw man, I was hoping for some action," whined Zell, getting up and stretching.

Seifer just grunted and didn't say anything.

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 _So Siren, can you sense any more GF's around here?_ asked Squall mentally as he left the closure where his friends were.

 _Not at the moment,_ responded the GF, " _But I've been scanning over your travels with your friends and I think…_

 _That Ifrit's spirit is lurking somewhere in the fire caverns back on Balamb Island?_

… _Actually that was exactly what I was thinking. How did you know?_

 _Originally, we drew your bodily form from Elvorett up on the communication tower. Ifrit's spirit was found in the fire cavern, so following that thought through logically it makes sense that we'd look for their spirits in the places where we found their bodies._

 _How did you find me then?_ Broke in Shiva, _I though you got me from your computer._

 _I just found you by dumb luck._

 _Oh. So does this mean you know where all of the GF's are?_

 _No, I remember the location of most of them, but we never found all 16 of the main guardian forces._

 _Where are we going anyways?_ Asked Siren.

 _We're going to go talk to Wedge again; we need to give him his interview._

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Wedge sighed to himself as he picked up the sword given to him by the military. He wasn't a bad fighter with it but after his original training, he could never fully adapt to the weapon.

"Wedge!"

"Huh?" Wedge looked around and saw Squall coming towards him, his gunblade drawn in his hand. Quickly recalling his talk with him earlier that day, Wedge jumped up to attention.

"Draw your sword Wedge; let's have a little practice match."

"Huh? But I though…"

"It's an evaluation of your skills, don't worry about beating me."

"Okay…" tentatively, Wedge drew his sword and got into a ready stance, Squall just kept his gunblade on his shoulder. The two stood still for a few seconds, and then Squall attacked.

By the first strike, Wedge could already tell he was outmatched. Squall was wielding his gunblade one-handed and the force of his strikes nearly tore the sword from his grip. Abandoning his training with the long sword, Wedge stepped into a completely alien stance and retaliated.

Squall's eyes widened in surprise at the new stance and the pattern of attacks. He knew them like the back of his hand, almost as if Wedge was…

A moment of hesitation and Wedge capitalized on, and his sword almost nicked him. Dancing back out of range, Squall countered the pattern with a well timed strike and disarmed him, flinging his sword off to the side.

Not wasting a moment Wedge dived out of the way of Squall's probing strike and retrieved his weapon, coming to his feet a good distance away.

"That's good enough," said Squall, resting the gunblade on his shoulder, "I recognize that pattern, you were trained on a gunblade weren't you?"

"You can tell?" asked Wedge surprised, "But I haven't used a gunbalde in nearly 4 years!"

"Your grip on the sword was completely wrong, it was held too tight to be effective, which was why I was able to disarm you. A gunblade requires a tighter grip, not only because of its weight but also because of the force of the shot. The pattern you used was also one of the basic gunblade forms, but it was ineffective because of the difference in size."

Wedge turned his eyes downcast, "My dad used to be a gunblade maker," he admitted, "Ever since I was little I had trained on them, but since only very few people in the world use gunblades, he didn't make much money. I joined the army to help him pay for expenses, but they made me use this sword."

Squall smirked, "At Balamb garden, we don't have any weapon policies. You use what you can cause the most damage with."

"Does that mean…?" he looked up hopefully.

In response, Squall tossed him his gunblade, "Go on, give her a whirl."

Wedge caught it one handed and took a firm grip on it, getting into a basic stance, familiarizing himself with the added weight and size. Slowly, he began to move, going through an old kata Squall had mastered when he was ten years old.

Beside him, the seed commander looked on with a trainer's eye. Despite the fact that he hadn't picked up a gunblade in five years, his form was pretty solid, and his mistakes few. Given a month he could probably be back to his old form.

Wedge finished the kata with a flourish, a one handed thrust followed by a parry and a crescent strike, before resting it on his shoulder.

"Not bad," said Squall taking the gunblade back and sheathing it, "A little rusty but good overall."

"It's a nice blade," said Wedge wiping a small bit of sweat that had developed on his brow away, "How long have you been using it?"

"For about a year now, I had it specially made for my final confrontation with Ultimeca."

"I thought so. My dad made that blade."

"Really? Small world." said Squall mildly surprised, "You'll have to thank him for me sometime."

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The boat ride home was incredibly tense. Squall's group had been at odds with Wedge and his superior Biggs before, and people kept shooting suspicious glances at him, regardless of how many times Squall assured them it was okay. It finally took a direct order as captain of the garden to allow him on the boat.

Rinoa was still shooting furious glances at Squall as well. She hadn't bought his excuses and they both knew it.

 _What the hell is her problem?_ Asked Squall as Rinoa continued to stare angrily at him.

 _Well you are with two completely different women now._ Said Siren mischievously, _She's probably jealous._

 _She doesn't own me!_ He shot back angrily.

 _Oh please,_ broke in Shiva, _Girls like her always think their boyfriends are cheating on them. It's a general fact of life._

 _She's not even my girlfriend anymore!_

 _Doesn't mean she can't act like it._ Responded Siren.

Squall idly noted it was amazing how human the two girls seemed despite the fact they were incredibly powerful Guardian forces.

 _A guardian force has needs too,_ Said Siren mischievously.

Squall mentally blocked off the rest of his thoughts.

"Yo Squall, you up for a game of cards?"

Squall looked up from his conversation to see Seifer casually shuffling a large collection of cards. At random he picked five cards from his deck and laid them facedown on the small table in the middle of the ship.

"What are the rules?" asked Squall taking out his own deck.

"Nothing but Random."

 _What are you playing?_ Asked Shiva curiously.

 _A card game,_ responded Squall shuffling his cards, _Just watch, you'll understand._

Playing by the random rule was incredibly difficult if you weren't prepared. You might get four weak cards and one strong card and end up loosing your best card. But then again, the same thing could happen to your opponent. Fortunately for him, Squall didn't really carry around anything below boss level cards ever since the random rule was spread.

Picking five cards from his deck, Squall laid them face down on the table, "What's the wager?"

Seifer smirked, "All."

Make that incredibly risky. Wagering an All on a random game was practically suicidal.

"I accept."

"As the challenged, I'll go first," said Squall. Picking up his hand, he saw what fate had given him.

 _Holy shit I better not loose this hand,_ thought Squall evenly, letting his perfect poker face come into play, _always better to start off with a perfect defense._

"I'll play Edea to the lower left hand corner," said Squall placing his card. It had taken him forever to get that card from her. It was the perfect defensive card, having two A ranks in its north and east sides, making it near invincible when played in a corner. Really the only time it could be taken was when some of the more… _exotic_ rules were in play.

"I'll play minotaur on the lower right," said Seifer, putting down the GF card. Minotaur was just a step below Edea, having two 9 rankings on his north and west side.

Squall looked at his hand again and smirked, "I'll play PuPu in the lower middle and take your Minotaur," It was the only level five card he carried around. With one A ranking on the right side and all its other stats below three it was a practically useless card. The way he played it though, it would require Seifer to play to the middle if he wanted to tie the game. And there was only one card in the whole game that didn't have at least one stat below 6.

"I'll play the GF Doomtrain to the upper right." So he wasn't going to fall for the bait. Probably a good idea, the card doomtrain had an A rank on its south and west sides making it impossible to take in this game.

No matter, all he had to do was play defensively for the rest of the game and he'd win, "I'll play Laguna to the middle right." That way only his 9 rank was showing.

Seifer smirked, "I play Alexander to the center." An A rank on the right and a four rank on the bottom.

Ouch. There goes Laguna and PuPu. The score was four to two now, Seifer's favor. Fortunately, Seifer had played Alexander's weak side, a two rank, on the left. And with a nine rank on the top, Squall doubted Seifer would be able to take it back again.

"I'll play Squall, middle left and take Alexander." Two spots left and the score was tied. The game would all depend on Seifer's last card.

"I'll play Zell in the upper middle." So he did have one A rank left. He was taking a huge risk though. If Squall didn't have anything that could beat a rank six on the right, Seifer would win. Otherwise a combo would occur that would take every card on the field except doomtrain.

"I play Shiva in the upper right hand corner," And Shiva had a rank 7 on her right side. The ice GF took Seifer who took Alexander who re-took PuPu and Laguna, bringing the score 8-2 Squalls favor.

"Shouldn't have gambled that last one," said Squall, "What were you holding back?"

Seifer grunted and tossed the card Siren onto the table with the other cards. They belonged to Squall now, per the rules. Thinking for a second, Squall picked up his cards and the Siren card, "You can take the others back," he said noncommittally, "I'm not much of a card player myself."

The other gunblade master rolled his eyes, "Yeah and I suppose that you got those cards by asking nicely huh?" Nevertheless Seifer gathered up the rest of his cards.

"It's amazing what saving the world can do for you," replied Squall nonchalant.

Silence filled the room. Squall felt everyone's eyes on him.

"What?" he asked finally.

"Did you just…make a joke?" asked Selphie hesitantly.

Squall didn't respond, opting instead to lean back and try to fall asleep.

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"So our accident budget will be able to cover the damages to Dollet?"

"Fortunately yes," responded Cid leaning back in his chair, "the only real damage that was done to the place happened to the communications tower, property damage was down to a minimum…for once."

Squall ignored the jibe, Cid had the right to be a little upset, "And what about the Ragnarock?"

"Completely totaled. Laguna said that repairs would take at least a week working at full capacity but they really can't spare the manpower on it at the moment so he estimated about a month."

"And Wedge?"

"Already on payroll. As captain of the garden you can place him where you see fit."

"Excellent. If that's all?"

"Actually Squall, there's something I wanted to ask you,"

 _Oh boy here it comes,_ said Shiva mentally.

 _Got your liar face on?_ Asked Siren.

"Just what are you up to? I've known you for nearly 6 years now Squall; I know when you're hiding something."

"Actually sir I wasn't…"

"Now hold on a second," interrupted Cid before Squall could make his excuses, "Before you start denying everything I want you to think about this. Now, I'll believe anything you say, but if I know what I'm dealing with I can help you."

When Squall didn't respond Cid took that as a sign to continue, "You have access to all the gardens resources, but I've been around a while," Cid had stood up and was now pacing back and forth behind his desk, "I know people Squall, I've got connections and I know the right people who can get you access to anywhere."

 _Is he actually trying to bribe me?_ Asked Squall slightly confused.

 _Seems like it,_ responded Siren, _but what does he have to gain from it?_

"If you'll pardon my asking sir, why do you want to know so badly? For all you know this could just be another of the dozens of grunt missions that the garden does on a daily basis."

Cid stopped pacing and faced the window, "Did you know I used to be a mercenary once?"

Squall's eyes widened in authentic surprise, "You were?"

"Oh yes. They don't let just anyone become headmaster of a garden. I was signed on during the Galbadian unification wars about twenty years ago. After the war was over, all the mercenaries were out of work, so we went on to create these gardens, basically mercenary havens."

"That's an interesting history lesson sir, but that still doesn't tell me why you want to know about my mission."

"The truth is Squall, I'm bored out of my mind sitting behind this desk filing out paperwork. I can't fight like I used to but I've got political standing that comes with age. So what do you think? You let me in on the mission and I'll smooth your way, how about it?"

 _Just when you think you know someone…_ thought Squall idly, _Well, what do you guys think?_

 _I've been asleep for a few hundred years but if what I've been reading from your memories is correct we might need someone like him in the political field,_ responded Siren.

 _Yeah that's what I've been thinking…wait a sec, you were reading through my memories?!_

 _Fight about it later,_ broke in Shiva, _the point is I think we should take this guy up on his offer._

Cid watched curiously as Squall's expression changed a few times as if he was arguing with himself. Finally the commander closed his eyes, his poker face set back in place, "Alright Cid, but from this moment on you're sworn to secrecy, got that?"

The headmaster nodded.

"Alright, on out."

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A/N: Mostly filler. I'm working on developing some of the lesser known characters rather than the actual cast. No particular reason, that's just my style. Remember, all constructive criticism is appreciated.


	18. Guardian Fury: Chapter 8

A/N: To answer all of your questions…yes, yes, yes, no, definitely not, yes, no, and maybe

A/N: To answer all of your questions…yes, yes, yes, no, definitely not, yes, no, and maybe. Now, on with the story.

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"So let me get this straight," said Cid as he eyed Shiva and Siren sitting next to Squall, "You're saying that the GF's are actually minor deities enslaved to Ultima Weapon?"

Shiva looked thoughtful, "Well, we're not actually gods, more like lesser spirits, but for all intents and purposes that's correct."

Cid leaned back in his chair and sighed. Reaching under his desk he brought out a bottle of amber colored liquid and a glass.

"Sir?"

The headmaster poured himself a glass and stared into the air as if in deep thought, holding the glass out in front of him, "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I never even really thought about it before."

"About what?"

"About this!" he practically yelled, gesturing to the GF's general direction, "We used them like slaves! Forced them to battle for us, and forced them to kill for us."

Squall stayed silent, not really knowing what to say. The only time he had ever seen the headmaster shout at anyone was when he fought with Norg.

"I never even questioned it," continued Cid in a softer voice, "Never even thought about it." He tilted his head back and drowned the glass in one drink, "What do we have to do to set this right?" he asked, a serious look coming over his face.

"Every GF that was imprisoned by Ultima weapon has three parts that need to be brought together," explained Siren after a moment of silence, "The first thing is our body, the part that you guys posses."

"When I went to fight the ice monster in the Shumi region, I had Shiva junctioned to me," put in Squall.

"The second part is the hard one. Ultima weapon separated our spirits from our bodies and fashioned his own twisted versions of the GF's from them. In order to free our spirits the monsters must be defeated, and then our bodies can re-merge with our spirits."

"And the third?" asked Cid beginning to pour another glass.

"The final thing we need is an anchor to this world. An avatar if you will. Without one, we are forced back into the divine realms. Currently, Squall anchors Shiva and I to this world. The monsters that contained our spirits were pseudo-anchors. Ultima weapon also has his own personal anchor to this world as well."

"He's a GF?" asked Squall curiously.

"No. Ultima weapon is the ultimate darkness, the representative of everything evil. Our power is insignificant compared to his, yet he too must follow the laws of the universe and therefore must have an anchor."

"Do you know who it is?" asked Squall.

"No we do not. Even if we did though, it would not do us any good. He has enough minions and followers to wipe us out if he ever got wind of our plans. That is why we must rescue the GF's in secret and not let anyone know about this mission under any circumstances. If the avatar of Ultima Weapon ever gets wind of what's going on, he will destroy us."

"Why?" asked Cid suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Why is he doing this? What does he have to gain from corrupting the GF's like this?"

"Simple," said Shiva solemnly, "He wants to destroy this world, plunge it into darkness and devour it. Ultima weapon is the ultimate darkness, he feeds on the pain and suffering of the planet and grows stronger from it."

Silence shadowed the room for a moment. Cid poured himself another drink and sipped it slowly.

"Well god damn that's depressing," said Squall suddenly, "And that's something coming form me."

Everyone was momentarily shocked out of their stupor. Squall continued as if he hadn't noticed, "Oh please, this so called Ultima Weapon is nothing more than a puffed up version of every other megalomaniac trying to destroy the world."

Squall stood up and started walking around the room, "First it was Galbadia, then it was Adel, then it was Ultimeca, and now it's this wacko. Who cares? This guy is just another asshole in a long line of assholes and I'm going to kick this guy's ass just as I did everyone else's."

Cid paused, his glass halfway to his mouth. Smiling, he set the glass back down, "I knew I made the right choice when I made you commander of this garden."

"And I knew I made the right choice when I anchored myself to him," said Shiva. She was feeling his intense determination and confidence through the link she shared with him and it was hard not to catch the feeling.

"Tomorrow, we're going to go to the fire cavern and we're going to beat the ever loving crap out of that monster that has Ifrit's soul."

"We? Who's coming with you?"

"Wedge for one. He was the one who killed the monster imprisoning Siren, with my own gunblade in fact. He already knows too much about this to not keep him involved. I'm also taking Zell as well."

"Zell?" asked Shiva, Siren, and Cid simultaneously.

"He's got Ifrit's body junctioned to him so he's going to need to come along. Not to mention," he continued walking towards the elevator door, "He's been listening to us for a while now." With that he punched the open button and the fist fighter came stumbling out.

Squall rubbed his head, absentmindedly trying to find the familiar groove of the scar Seifer had left him even though it was no longer there. "You know Zell, it's a good thing I need you right now otherwise I probably wouldn't stop them from killing you."

Zell looked up from his position on the ground to see Shiva and Siren holding a silence blast and an ice spear respectively, "That's harsh man…"

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"Well," said Squall as he walked with Zell through the halls of the garden. "I hope you're ready to see this mission through to the end because if you want to back out, I'm going to have to kill you for eavesdropping on a very private conversation."

"Woah dude," said Zell waving his hands out in front of him frantically. "You know I'm in this with you until the end right? We're best buds man!"

"Look Zell, I don't think you really appreciate the seriousness of this situation," explained Squall slightly exasperated. "This isn't just some megalomaniac trying to destroy the world; this person literally wants to eat our universe, for no other reason than it's his nature. If he gets an inkling as to what we're doing, we could wake up dead."

"Um…if we're dead, how are we gonna wake up?"

Squall briefly wondered if he should answer him with an insult or a blow to the head but before he could do either, Zell spoke, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"Look man, it's cool. I've always got your back. That's what friends do." With that, Zell began to walk in the opposite direction from Squall's office, hands in his pockets.

"Zell!"

The fist fighter looked back over his shoulder.

"Thanks."

The SeeD merely gave a thumbs up in reply.

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" _Friendship is truly a powerful thing,"_ mind-spoke Shiva solemnly _. "Zell seemed willing to follow you to the ends of the earth even though this quest may put his very soul at risk."_

Squall was quiet for several seconds before responding. _'It's hard to tell sometimes if Zell is just too brave for his own good or too stupid. Either way, he's reliable enough"_

" _I think he's kinda cute,"_ spoke in Siren.

" _I think you have a wide strike zone,"_ responded Shiva

" _I think you're just jealous."_

" _ **I**_ _think you need to shut up and let me work!"_

Shiva and Siren were silent for a minute.

" _Don't worry, he's not nearly as good looking as you,"_ assured Siren.

" _Definitely,"_ agreed Shiva.

"I see you've gotten rid of my little tattoo."

Squall looked up from the papers on his desk. Even though he had barely been gone for a week, the amount of work that had piled up in his absence was reaching FUBAR levels.

"So how did you manage that? Some new spell of yours?"

It took Squall a second to realize that Seifer was talking about his missing scar. "A pretty magical girl took care of it for me," he replied seriously.

" _Hey! I am a Guardian of Earth! Do not put me on the same level of that Sailor Moon slut!"_

" _How the hell do you know who Sailor Moon is anyways?"_ asked Shiva.

" _I was just looking through Squall's memories. Did you know he was a bit of a pervert when he was a kid?"_

Seifer looked at Squall strangely as he suddenly whacked himself on the side of the head. "Are you okay man?"

' _Oh nothing,'_ though Squall silently, _'Just trying to get the voices in my head to shut up.'_

Out loud he said, "Nothing. This paperwork is driving me insane."

Seifer smirked and sat down, kicking his feet on a stack of papers lying on the commander's desk.

"By all means, have a seat," said Squall sarcastically.

Seifer chuckled and picked up a random sheet of paper. "Permission to double the amount of hot-dogs ordered? Sounds like work befitting of a captain."

"Did you want something or are you just here to gloat the fact that you don't have to do paperwork?"

"Both actually. I've finally decided that I'm tired of staying at the head of the disciplinary committee."

Squall looked up skeptically. "And what does this have to do with me?"

Sefier shrugged, "You're the captain now. You have to arrange the SeeD field tests, and we are a few months overdue."

The captain paused in the middle of writing his signature. That was one of the many "perks" of being captain that Cid had failed to mention.

"Got any ideas?" he pressed.

"Yes actually. I was thinking of sending you and everyone else who gives me these papers into the fire cavern to duke it out and promoting the last one standing to a SeeD."

"Damn man, when did you pick up a sense of humor?"

"Around the time that I learned that being a depressing person in a depressing situation doesn't help morale that much. So why the sudden interest?"

"I'm bored," he said simply, "While you were off in the artic fighting giant ice monsters, I was here teaching the junior students how to shoot fire at Irving. Not that that wasn't fun," he amended quickly, "But being a SeeD has to be a hell of a lot more interesting than this."

Squall raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, being in the field and such. You couldn't push the position of commander on me if you tried."

"Yes well, Cid didn't have to try. He just said it and it happened."

The two gunblades-men were silent for a moment.

"So seriously, what are you going to do for the SeeD field test?"

"Hell if I know," said Squall, shifting another paper to his outbox. "We don't exactly have a major war going on anywhere that we can send random scrubs out to like they did you and me."

"Hell Squall, if you don't have a war going on then just make one happen."

Squall sighed, "Alright Seifer, I'll schedule the SeeD exam two weeks from now. I have some business that I need to take care of first though."

Seifer pulled another paper off of the desk. "Permission to switch the gas used in the garden cars from premium to unleaded? Yep, sounds like tough business to me."

"Leave."

' _It's no use,'_ thought Squall resignedly seconds after Seifer left, _'I'm just not cut out for paperwork.'_

Sweeping the stack of papers on his desk onto the floor, Squall grabbed his gunblade and headed for the garden entrance.

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"Do you know how to spar Shiva?"

"You mean the thing you and Seifer did where you cut up each others faces?"

Squall sighed. "Yeah, kinda like that, except without the cutting of faces. It's a mock fight basically. It's supposed to hone your skills."

The time was just after noon and Squall was with Shiva and Siren in a small forest clearing a couple miles away from Balamb.

Shiva looked at him skeptically. "Sorry Squall, but I don't think you could live through a Diamond Dust."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And what do you think your monster avatar did, pelt me with hail?"

On the sidelines, Siren chuckled, the sound reminding Squall of gently flowing water, "He's got you there Shiva."

Shiva humped and turned her head reminding Squall of a little kid, "I am much more powerful than that weak little monster."

Squall bit his tongue before the retort could pass his lips.

Unfortunately, Siren said it for him. "Oh really, then how did that "weak little monster" manage to hold your spirit for so long?"

Shiva glared daggers at the other GF.

"Alright, alright that's enough. The point is Shiva, what would you do if you couldn't use your immense ice powers?"

The ice guardian only gave it a second's thought, "No one can stop me from using my powers."

"Alright then, what if the thing you're fighting is an ice monster then?"

"Just because they're made of ice doesn't mean I can't freeze them in their tracks."

"Granted. But what if you found yourself in a situation where you couldn't use your ice powers? Or rather...shouldn't?"

"I don't see how that's relevant considering I can always use my ice powers."

Squall sighed and rubbed his head, "Alright, I can see we're going to have to do this the hard way."

Faster than Siren or Shiva could track, Squall's hand darted forward and touched Shiva on the shoulder. The ice queen felt a brief flare of magic before Squall took his hand away again.

As soon as the gunblade wielder took his hand away, Shiva felt an odd sensation pass through her, like a gate slamming shut. The feeling made her stagger back a bit.

"What you have just been hit with," explained Squall dropping into teacher mode, "Is a particularly nasty spell of my own invention. It's a combination of silence, curse, and pain and completely locks away the magic of the recipient and even goes as far as to shut down a small portion of their innate battle aura."

Disbelieving, Shiva desperately tried to reach for her powers only to run straight into a mental glass wall. Shaking her head to ward of the slight dizziness, Shiva shot Squall a glare.

"Of course you were able to hit me with it when I wasn't expecting it!"

Squall fought not to smirk. "Surprise is a key part of battle at times. Yes, I did take you by surprise but how does it make you feel that I can disable all those ice powers of yours with a single touch?"

Shiva's eyes fell to the ground, the obvious left unsaid.

"Nobody likes feeling helpless Shiva," he said solemnly, "and that is why, as SeeD's, we train every aspect of our being, not just our strongest parts."

With that, Squall walked back over to Shiva and patted her on the shoulder. Instantly the ice guardian felt the barriers around her powers fall. Just to be sure, she formed an ice spear in her hand.

"In truth, the spell would only last against someone like you for about five minutes," explained Squall to a puzzled Shiva, "Eventually your aura would overpower my spell, but do you think you could last five minutes?"

Shiva glared at him before using her powers to mold the ice spear in her hand to the shape of a sword. Squall drew his gunblade and flipped the safety on.

 _ **One minute and forty-four and a half seconds later…**_

"Not that I'm complaining," said Shiva gently rubbing her hand where Squall had hit to disarm her, "But why doesn't Siren have to go through any of this?"

"Oh she will, I just decided to torment you first."

"Great, I feel loved," she said sarcastically as she went to retrieve her ice-blade for the third time.

Shiva had obtained the faintest of fighting skills from her time junctioned to Squall. It was hard not to pick something up when it was pretty much all he thought about. Unfortunately, seeing something and actually doing it were two very different things.

Turning to face the SeeD captain, Shiva brought her blade to a ready position.

Squall made the first move, a series of thrusts that were meant to take advantage of the weapons firing capability rather than actually stab the opponent. Shiva parried a few and moved backwards to avoid the rest.

"Only give ground if you have to," Squall said parrying one of Shiva's strikes and countering, "Or you may find your back against something that won't give."

At that exact moment, Shiva's back hit a tree at the edge of the clearing. Seeing Squall close in on her, she moved forward, attacking viciously with several slashes. Squall dodged and rapped her on the wrist with the flat of his blade but allowed her to move back into the clearing.

"Always be aware of your environment," he continued, guarding against her attacks easily, "Even a seemingly open plain can be hazardous." With a push, he sent Shiva backwards into a small pothole. It wasn't enough to make her trip but she did stumble.

Squall didn't press the attack and waited for her to recover. When she regained her balance, he renewed his assault.

"Finally, and most importantly," Squall locked swords with Shiva, putting his strength against hers, "Always be alert for dirty play."

Before Shiva could respond, Squall had dropped his gunblade, causing Shiva to stumble forward. Quickly, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around, pressing her own blade against her throat.

"Dirty play huh?" asked Shiva mischievously. Warning bells began going off in Squall's head but before he could react Shiva turned around suddenly and kissed him full on the lips.

It was…warmer than he expected. A faint chill began to crawl from his lips to the rest of his body. He felt a surge of energy travel through him, making him feel cool, but at the same time his veins seemed to catch fire. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

He was brought back to reality quite abruptly when he felt Shiva's ice blade press against his throat.

"You know, I think I could get to like this sparring thing," said Shiva smugly, her eyes mirthful.

' _So could I,'_ said Squall's mind treacherously. Out loud he said, "Alright, I think you've had enough for today."

"Oh I don't know." Squall could hear the playfulness in her voice as she moved around behind him. "I kinda like having you at my mercy." The last words were whispered in his ear, her body pressed up against his back.

Squall wasn't a stranger to arousal. It was a required course at Balamb garden after all and Rinoa, despite being an emotional maelstrom, was still a good looking girl, but she was nothing compared to the level Shiva had him at.

Suddenly, Squall's hand shot up and caught the flat of the blade. Concentrating his inner magic, Squall brought the hottest fire he could manage to his hand and turned a portion of the blade into water. As soon as the blade was broken, Squall grabbed a stunned Shiva and flipped her over his shoulder and onto her back.

"I think you've had enough for today," said Squall once more as he smirked down at her prone form.

"Insufferable arrogant son of a…" Her mutterings trailed off as Squall went to retrieve his gunblade where it had fallen earlier.

"Is it my turn now?" asked Siren, getting up from the log she had been sitting on.

Squall nodded as he turned to face his new sparring partner. "What kind of weapon do you use?"

Siren raised her hand and light gathered around it. With a bright flash that illuminated the clearing, the light faded and Siren was holding a golden harp in her hand.

The SeeD raised an eyebrow.

"Believe it or not Mr. Muscle," said Siren, lightly strumming the strings, "Not every battle needs to be won with swords." With that, she plucked the highest string on her harp.

The sounds of wildlife seemed to fade out of the background. Squall's body tensed in anticipation, as if he were about to jump from a cliff face into the sea. Then, she moved her hand over the harp.

It sounded...divine. Otherworldly. Magical. Captivating. The SeeD could feel a pleasant tingle sweep through his body as his ears strained to catch every note. His senses seemed to dampen as every fiber of his being concentrated on the beautiful tune.

Then, the logic of the situation hit him like a freight train. The song was a true siren song that Squall had read about in the Greek myths of legend, something that entrapped men and made them oblivious to all else. Desperately he tried to tune the song out and force his limbs into motion but it was like trying to push through wet cement.

In the back of his mind, he noticed that Siren was moving towards him, still playing her enchanting, yet deadly, melody. He tried reaching for his magic but even his mental concentration seemed to be lacking.

Suddenly, Siren was standing in front of him. He had been so focused on breaking her spell that he hadn't even realized how far she had moved.

Then…she kissed him.

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SPLASH!

Squall awoke suddenly to the feel of near-freezing water.

"You know Siren, I'm a bit surprised he lasted that long. Usually you don't have to kiss someone to knock them out."

"He's a tough one. I tried to get him to walk towards me but his aura kept fighting my commands."

"Yeah but I still got caught by it," interjected the prone SeeD warrior, rising to his feet.

Siren smirked, catching Squall as he wobbled on his feet a bit. "The day I fail to make a man fall to my song is the day I put in for retirement as a GF. You didn't even get aroused; I must be loosing my touch."

Squall fought down the feeling of awkwardness. "It was a battle situation," he explained, "I was completely focused on breaking your spell to the exclusion of all else."

Siren pouted prettily. "Yeah but Shiva still got you going."

"Yeah…well…that was different."

The SeeD warrior nearly jumped in shock when he felt Siren's body press against his back. "Oh really? How so?" she whispered in his ear, her breath sending shivers down his spine.

Shiva blinked. One second Siren was hugging Squall from behind and the next second he was ten feet away, cleaning the dirt off his gunblade and replacing it in its sheath. "You know, I think that's enough training for one day."

Shiva and Siren shared a smirk.

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The rest of the day seemed to pass in a blur. Squall's other friends dropped by every now and again while he continued working through his stack of papers. Rinoa seemed to trying (and failing) to constantly dog his steps in the hopes of finding the "mystery girl" that Squall was with.

Cid called in a recovery team to standby outside the fire cavern in case they needed immediate medical attention when (or if) they finished their fight, under the guise of SeeD exam purposes.

All to soon, they were standing at the threshold of the Fire Cavern.

"It's gotten hotter since the last time I've been here," said Squall as he stood in front of the entrance.

"Probably thanks to Ifrit's demon avatar. I can sense his spirit in there," said Shiva who was standing beside him.

"How long do you think we'll be able to last in that heat?" asked Wedge who was shouldering one of Squall's old gunblades.

"No more than three minutes without Shiva's help. Can you do anything about this?"

"Not much," she admitted, "This place is an active volcano. Demon Ifrit is drawing on its power to supplement his own. It's too much for me to handle. I could at least keep the air temperature around us low but we'd have to stick pretty close together."

"How long can you hold it?"

"A couple hours, probably less if I have to fight."

"Considering our enemy, that's pretty much a given," cut in Wedge. "You're his weakness, he'll probably be targeting you most of all."

"So we've got about half an hour to beat this punk? Sounds fine to me," said Zell, punching his fist into his hand. "When I was taking my SeeD test I was able to clear this cavern in ten minutes flat."

"Then lets hope that Ifrit hasn't been doing some re-modeling while we were on our first quest to save the world," said Squall icily. Unsheathing his gunblade, the SeeD commander led the way into the fire cavern.

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A/N: I have no excuse but I do have one hell of a story. PM me or say so in a signed review if you want to hear it.


	19. Guardian Fury: Chapter 9

A/N: No I don't know why I'm updating this story more than my other ones. I guess I'm just a little more inspired for this right now.

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Not for the first time, Squall wondered why on earth he had decided to wear a heavy fur coat when he knew he was going into a volcanic sauna. Shiva was practically shoulder to shoulder with him and he could still feel the effects of the heat.

The fire around them seemed a lot more active, occasionally spurting up in brief firespouts before lying dormant. Underneath the sound of their own footsteps, a slow rumbling could be heard throughout the cavern.

"The fiends seem strangely absent," said Wedge aloud after a few minutes of walking.

"Maybe they're scared," put in Zell, punching the air a couple times.

"Maybe they know something we don't. Stay on your guard."

Occasionally, they would come to a place in the path that had been overrun by the lava. When this happened, Shiva froze the ground so they could carefully cross over. As they moved deeper into the fire cavern, the path became narrower as the molten rock closed in.

"Something's wrong with this lava," said Siren suddenly, bringing the party to an abrupt halt.

"What is it?" It looked like regular lava to him.

"This place is on a downward slope going in that direction," said Siren pointing towards the entrance, "But this lava is flowing that way." She pointed in the opposite direction.

Squall took a closer look. "You're right, it's flowing," he paused while he looked for the source, "That way."

"He's gathering power," cut in Shiva. "Squall, we need to hurry. If this monster absorbs the full power of this volcano, nothing short of deep freezing him in the arctic is going to stop him."

"Well, that's why you're here," he said amusedly.

"I'm flattered Squall, but I'm a guardian, not a god."

A sudden rumble brought their conversation to a halt. The guardians and the humans formed a circle, drawing their weapons and readying their magic. For a few seconds, no one moved.

"False alarm?" asked Zell after a few more seconds.

His answer came in the form of several plumes of lava erupting all around them.

"Run for it!" shouted Squall, pushing Shiva ahead of him. Behind them, the ground started falling away, and the lava slowly creeped towards them.

"Head towards that cliff!" shouted Zell, quickly sprinting to the head of the group. With a leap, Zell grabbed on to the cliff face and scrambled up like a demented spider, Squall hot on his heals. When they got to the top, Squall reached down and pulled up Shiva and Siren up by one hand, while Zell helped Wedge to the top.

No sooner had Siren's foot touched the ground than a huge plume of lava erupted behind her, singing her heel.

"It seems that we were expected," said Squall in his usual monotone. The path they had followed in was essentially gone; all that remained was a gigantic pool of lava.

"And it doesn't seem they're done yet!" said Zell, suddenly on his feet. Around them the lava had begun to stir again, but this time instead of plumes, they released bombs. Squall reached for his gunblade but the fist fighter was already in action, darting around the cliff, punching the bombs back from their area of safety.

Zell may have been hot tempered and bull headed but above all else, he was an accomplished fist fighter. He had lined his gloves and boots with ice magic, giving a nasty hit to any bomb that approached their cliff. He was even beginning to knock the bombs into one another, causing them to explode on contact.

"What do we do now?" shouted Wedge over the deafening explosions.

"Go through that wall!" yelled Shiva, pointing to the rock face behind them. "Ifrit's behind there!"

Squall got to his feet. "Stand back."

Concentrating his battle aura, Squall let it flow into his gunblade. The weapon accepted his aura easily, absorbing it like a sponge. Then, in a samurai like fashion, Squall drew the blade and made four slashes in the cliff face, his aura parting the rocks easily. Shiva, Siren, and Wdge immediately ran through.

"Zell, come on!"

"We can't let these bombs follow us," replied Zell, not missing a beat in his furious game of dodge-bomb. "I'll stay here and guard our exit. Hurry up and kill that thing!"

Squall didn't even look back as he ran after the rest of the party. It was useless trying to persuade him otherwise. One of the perks of being as stubborn as Zell was that people eventually just stopped arguing with you. Not to mention, Zell was right. It would be incredibly hard to battle Ifrit with bombs flying around.

The new path that Squall had opened up led into a small passageway, with a harsh orange glow at the end of it.

"That's him!" shouted Shiva over the noise behind her. "Run for it!"

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There was no fanfare, monologues, or posturing. One minute the circular room at the center of the volcano was quiet, and in the next, there were two humans and two Guardians viciously attacking the spot that Ifrit was standing, gathering power from the volcano.

The first barrage of ice and silence attacks hit him dead on, sending him hurtling into a wall, causing several rocks to fall on top of him.

Silence reined in the room for a few moments.

"Did we get it?" asked Wedge hopefully.

A loud roar sounded from the pile of rocks. With a mighty slash, Ifrit threw the rocks off of him, flinging several towards the party who separated to dodge.

" **That was a cheep shot sister."**

His voice seemed to shake the very earth. The volcano also seemed to match his tone as it rumbled warningly. Finally, he threw the last of the rocks off of him and Squall got his first look at Ifrit.

The first thing he noticed was that his skin was gone. His skeleton was showing, with dark flames licking at the blackened bones. Instead of his usual orange and red fire, he was surrounded by blue and black flames. He was crouched over on all fours, a sharp contrast to the lordly upright pose Squall was used to.

" **I knew once Shiva was awakened that someone would eventually be coming for me. I still find it incredible that you were so easily tricked into coming though."**

Squall raised an eyebrow. "So if this was to be a trap, why didn't you just take us out before we got here?"

" **Because with your release confirmed, Omega's time has now come! Your world is doomed! Bow before the almighty power of-"**

Siren's ball of silence detonated against his head with a soundless boom, abruptly cutting off his speech.

"I see your brother still hasn't lost his taste for monologue," said Siren casually.

Shiva sighed. "You said it cuz."

" **FOOLS! Your powers are useless here! This is my home, and now it will be your tomb!"**

With a mighty roar that echoed against the walls of the cave, the ground began to crumble away, revealing the lava underneath it. The seemingly solid rocks they were standing on were quickly melting into the magma beneath it.

"Shiva! Freeze the ground! Now!"

The ice guardian gave a quick nod before folding her hands and closing her eyes in concentration. Gradually, a thin film of ice covered the ground, halting the flow of lava. Granted, fighting on a slippery ground wasn't ideal, but it was better than a burning one.

Throwing off his coat, Squall ran towards Ifrit, hoping to distract him from Shiva's meditations. Simultaneously, Wedge approached his other side, thinking similar thoughts.

Ifrit's "heart" was visible behind his skeleton but as Squall quickly found out, the fire guardian's bones were as tough as steel. The SeeD quickly retreated before Ifrit could score a hit with his claws, instead causing him to deeply gouge the ice.

Seeing Squall's failed attempt at hacking through the ribs, Wedge began aiming for the head, hoping to cripple him somehow. Ifrit seemed to take offense to this though and parried with his claws, which also seemed to share the same toughness of his bones.

The two humans began darting around the fire guardian like flies, getting a hit in wherever they could while Siren put in a blast whenever she could. Despite the slippery ground, Wedge and Squall managed to avoid serious injury.

Finally, Squall landed a vicious cut on Ifrit's hand, causing him to roar out in pain. With a mighty leap, the guardian leaped to the other side of the room, well out of range of the gunblade users.

Gathering his power, Ifrit began launching his trademark meteor shots at them, forcing them to quickly dodge. It was only through serendipity that none of them came near Shiva.

Unfortunately, due to the slick ground, their forward progress was all but halted. Every time they tried to close in, they'd end up having to franticly dodge another meteor barrage. Siren also couldn't seem to get a shot off, because while she only required about four seconds to form and shoot a silence blast of considerable power, Ifrit was shooting about one blast every two seconds.

"Squall! Use your gunblade!"

The SeeD looked at Wedge confused. Did he want him to throw it?

As if in answer to his question, Wedge took the gunblade Squall had lent him and pressed a hidden switch in the pommel of the blade. Suddenly the blade detached, leaving him with just the gun.

"The hell?" Squall dodged another fireball before taking a precious few moments to examine the pommel of his gunblade. On the bottom, nearly invisible to the human eye, was a small hole.

"Get something long and thin to put in it!" shouted Wedge who was now returning fire in between dodging fireballs. The bullets only seemed to have minimal effect on the beast though.

Searching around quickly, Squall immediately spotted a thin sliver of ice, possibly broken off from the ground where Ifrit's claws had impacted it. Rolling to avoid another magma blast, Squall snatched up the sliver of ice and jammed it into the whole. There was a loud click, and the blade suddenly fell away.

A sudden jolt traveled through Squall's body as the gun in his hand suddenly synchronized with his ki. He had been taught before that a weapon was nothing more than an extension of your body but this gun actually _felt_ like part of his body. Taking aim at Ifrit, he fired.

Instead of the expected bullets, the gun released his ki instead. A bright blue light streaked towards Ifrit just below the speed of sound before impacting his skeleton, causing him to stumble back a bit. Seeing the stumble, Squall continued firing alongside Wedge and Siren.

The fight staggered on a like a demented game of dodgeball with projectiles flying all over the room. Even Shiva had to momentarily break her concentration a couple times to dodge some projectiles. The tide was slowly turning in the SeeD's favor though. Although Ifrit's fireballs were big and powerful, they were still relatively easy to dodge, even on the slick floor, and the small hits they scored were slowly but surely wearing him down.

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' _Damn'_ thought Zell as he furiously beat back another wave of attackers, _'Just how many dead bodies are in this lava?'_

At first, defending the ledge had been almost pathetically easy. Bombs had been trying to attack him from all sides but their assaults were poorly coordinated and easily thwarted. Even when the fire bats had joined the fray, things were still fairly manageable.

It was the fiery undead skeletons that were pushing his limits.

Granted, they weren't the most skilled fighters but they knew how to swing a sword, or bone, or rock, or whatever they could get their hands on really. While bombs and bats were easy to predict and intercept, the skeletons had just enough variation in their attack patterns to make things rather difficult.

A detached part of his mind wondered briefly how on earth bones, or metal swords for that matter, could survive the intense heat of the lava below him, but unfortunately the scientific impossibility didn't stop them from crawling out of the lava and up the cliff face three at a time.

He had briefly considered retreating into the tunnel Squall had gone down to force his enemies to come at him from one direction, but the idea was quickly rejected. The tunnel was Squall's only way out. A cave in triggered by fighting in it would spell certain death for all of them.

Zell dodged a blow from a bone club before shattering his attacker's skull and pushing him back into the lava. He'd probably just climb up the cliff again, even without his head, but it would give him a few moments reprieve.

' _Whatever the hell you're fighting in there Squall, hurry up and kill it!'_

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' _This…is not working.'_ Ifrit finally conceded after one of the ki bullets narrowly missed his eye socket. Originally, his plan had been to corral them into the center of the volcano and destroy them instantly with his lava trap but Shiva had been able to keep the ground frozen much longer than he expected. Apparently, even though she was unaware of it, she had been drawing on Squall and Siren's stores of energy.

With a roar, Ifrit smashed the ground as hard as he could, sending ice shards flying everywhere. Some embedded in his skeleton but he shook the pain off, continuing to pound the ground. Finally, a satisfying crunch of ice gave way to the magma underneath. A few more hits and the hole was wide enough to fit him. With a leap, he submerged himself in the lava.

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The sudden lull in the fighting was a bit disorienting, Squall noted as he quickly reattached his gunblade. Shiva was still in a meditative posture, her entire concentration on maintaining the ice against the fury of the volcano.

"Where'd he go?" asked Wedge, reattaching the blade to his gun.

"Siren! Give me a location!"

The GF of silence nodded before closing her eyes and concentrating. Half a second later, they were open again.

"Shiva! Look out!"

The ice GF looked up briefly from her meditation, but the warning came a second too late. With a mighty crash, Ifrit erupted from the ice right underneath her. Turning in midair, Ifrit grabbed her around the middle and threw her down towards the ice, sending a meteor shot after her fall.

The resulting force created spider web cracks on the ice through the whole arena. The GF's body was nowhere to be seen.

"Shiva!"

Squall began sprinting over to the crater where Shiva had impacted, but was stopped with a sudden mental message.

' _I'm okay Squall, I'm just…out of…energy. I'll need about a day…to recharge…before I can manifest…again. Can't…keep…talking…"_ The connection was abruptly cut off.

On one hand, he was relieved that Shiva was okay, but on the other hand, with her absence, the ground was starting to steam up in a clear sign of melting ice.

" _Squall, use your own power. Shiva should have the memory of how to do it."_

Quickly searching her recent memories, Squall found the pattern Shiva had been using to weave her ice and thrust his own energy into it. Immediately, the pattern latched onto his power like a leech.

' _At this rate I'll last about another three minutes. Maybe less if I have to keep fighting like this.'_

Readying his gunblade, Squall ran over to where Wedge had once again engaged Ifrit in close combat. His movements were slightly sluggish, like a computer with a second or two of delay after each command imputed. By himself, he probably would have already been toasted, but with Wedge running interference, they were able to keep Ifrit on the defensive. Siren had also procured her own weapon, and was also starting to move in close to engage.

Even though he wasn't making any attacks though, all Ifrit had to do was wait for the ice to melt, then it would be game over.

"LOOK OUT!"

 **CRASH!**

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Zell wiped the sweat off his brow as the last skeleton shattered under the combined pressure of ice and fist. While the monsters were numerous, they weren't infinite, and the fire cavern seemed to have used up all of its ammo.

"I need to get to Squall," he muttered to himself, trying to catch his second wind. He needed to hurry, but he also knew that it'd be useless if he ran to the "big" fight in his current condition.

A minute passed, and then two. Slowly, Zell stood up, nursing some bruises and stretching some muscles.

A sound which could only be described as a scream rang throughout the cavern, immediately turning Zell from relaxed to full alert in an instant. Beneath him, the lava began to bubble and erupt. Another scream echoed off the cavern walls, shaking Zell's bones.

With a final plume of lava, the cavern revealed its final monstrosity. The flaming skeleton of a gigantic T-Rexaur.

"Oh fuck this."

Zell had fought the good fight and had weathered the fire cavern's assault but he wasn't going to stick around and see its deathblow. As he ran through the makeshift tunnel towards Squall, he could feel the heat of the skeletonized T-Rexaur behind him as it caved in the passage in his wake.

Spotting the opening ahead, the fist fighter put on a burst of speed and leapt into the clearing a hairs breadth ahead of the monster behind him

"LOOK OUT!"

 **CRASH!**

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If the situation hadn't previously been so grim, Squall probably would have laughed (if he was in the habit of laughing that is). When Zell had made his dramatic entrance with the T-Rexaur hot on his heels, bouncing off of Ifrit's head in the fall from the opening, he had given them the perfect distraction needed to cripple the corrupted guardian via cutting off his skeletonized hand at the weaker joint.

But it hadn't ended there.

The T-Rexaur who had previously been running on solid ground suddenly found himself trying, and failing, to run on air. With no choice but to obey gravity, he had gone straight down and fell…straight on Ifrit. The force of the impact had partially broken through the ice, but had quickly re-frozen, further confining the corrupted Guardian Force. Burried under a pile of bone and frozen in ice with only one claw available, the fire guardian wasn't going anywhere.

Taking a firm grip on his gunblade, Squall half walked half staggered over to Ifrit's prison along with Wedge and Siren. Ifrit attempted to make a half-hearted swipe but was quickly stopped by the ex-Galbadia soldier, his appendage pinned to the ice via Wedge's gunblade.

" **He knows. Omega Weapon knows, and he's coming for you."** The Guardian grinned, **"And then you're all going to die!"**

"Hopefully by then you'll be playing for the right team," said Squall, fierce determination in his eyes. Without further ceremony, he embedded his ice enchanted gunblade into the corrupted Guardian's core.

If it hadn't been for Shiva's protection, Squall probably would have been roasted alive from the backlash of power Ifrit's core released. As it was, the heat wave still knocked him on his back.

Wedge and Siren immediately darted forward, grabbing their commander's arms and dragging him away from the hurricane of fire that was rapidly growing. With a final bang and a wave of heat that knocked everyone off their feet, Ifrit emerged.

" **It's about time you came and freed me, sister. I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten about me."**

Even when he wasn't in dark mode, Ifrit still spoke with a voice that commanded attention and respect. His booming tone echoed off of the cavern walls and the steady rumbling of the fire cavern added to his commanding presence.

"You're welcome bro," said Siren quickly, "But we need an exit, and fast!"

" **Very well. I suppose the pleasantries can wait."**

With a roar, Ifrit manifested a meteor shot before pounding it into the mountainside, blowing the collapsed rock away from the tunnel.

" **Leader Squall."**

Squall staggered to his feet, meeting Ifrit's eyes.

" **I will fly us out of here, but you must shield them with your ice magic while I do so."**

The SeeD nodded in affirmation before closing his eyes and concentrating. A faint blue Aura appeared around him, Wedge, and Zell.

"It will be easier for us if you return to your astral form," said Squall. Siren nodded before disappearing in a flash of light. The three fighters climbed onto the Guardian's back. The heat was mildly annoying but Squall's ice aura was making it bearable. Beneath him the makeshift ice ground was beginning to crack and melt into the rising lava.

" **Hang on little ones!"**

"To what?" Shouted Zell frantically, but Ifrit had already taken off.

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"You know I have to admit," said Cid to Squall as the medical team patched up his wounds. "You may not be much for grace or subtlety but you certainly have style."

On the outside, it had seemed like one minute everything was quiet and peaceful, and then in the next minute, the volcano was erupting and Balamb's commander was riding a demon out of the fiery depths of hell itself.

Needless to say, Ifrit's sudden appearance and flight path had nearly provoked an armed response. If it hadn't been for the lookouts spotting Squall on its back, things probably would have gotten real hot real quick.

Ifrit had dumped them in the center of the medical camp before disappearing in a flash of fire. Squall couldn't sense him in his mind directly but he could still feel his presence.

Surprisingly, none of them were seriously injured, aside from Shiva who was still unconscious. Zell had several small burns that needed to be attended, Wedge was also nursing his share of burns and bruises and Squall was suffering from severe ki depletion, but that was to be expected after the strain of holding the icy floor for so long. His consciousness was probably only going to last as long as the adrenaline in his body did.

' _Or at least until I stop feeding you healing energy,'_ Put in Siren.

Squall grimaced. He was probably going to be out for a while.

' _Nonsense. With my help you'll probably only have to sleep for a day or two at most. It does give me some time to search through all your embarrassing memories though.'_

The SeeD commander was quickly starting to realize just how pointless it was trying to hide thoughts from someone who could read your mind. Trying _not_ to think about something only made you think of it more and…

' _Oh my Squall, I never knew you were into p-"_

Cid's eyes widened in surprise as Squall suddenly hit himself on the side of his head. "Um, are you okay?"

"Just peachy."

' _You know, that doesn't hurt me at all.'_

' _Just shut up.'_

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" **Your mind is small human, but compared to my former prison, I suppose anything would be more agreeable."**

Zell jumped at the voice in his head, causing the medic treating his wounds to scold him.

"Where are you?" asked Zell, slightly confused.

"I'm standing right in front of you," said the medic. "And if you want me to treat these burns then stay still!"

" **Foolish human. Do you wish people to think you are crazy? Talk with your mind, not your mouth."**

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"By sitting still and shutting up," said the irritated medic. "Now let me treat those."

Zell turned as if just noticing the medic for the first time. "Um, actually they're not that bad. You can go help someone else."

" **I should hope that my container on Gaia would be a little fire resistant."** Said the voice smugly.

Zell looked at the burns on his skin curiously. They were fading right before his eyes, he couldn't even feel the sting anymore. Finally, his mind put two and two together.

"Wait a sec…you're Ifrit right?"

" **Took you long enough. Yes, I am Ifrit, the true Guardian of Fire."**

"Oh." There was a moment's pause. "So…why are you in my head and not in Squalls?"

" **I still hold a connection with our leader, but you hold my consciousness. I determined that it would be best for Squall if he did not have to contest with three separate consciences. Such a thing might prove to be too mentally taxing for a human."**

Zell snickered. "More like you don't want to be that close to your sister 24/7. It'd probably drive Squall insane."

"… **Nevertheless, I hereby charge you with holding my conscious, with holding my bond to this world. Take care you do not "screw it up" as you humans would say."**

The fist fighter sweatdropped. "You're a real great motivational speaker you know that?"

" **You try speaking after hundreds of years of solitude."**

"That does sound kinda hard."

" **Humph."**

"…So what was it like in eternal solitude?"

" **Boring."**

"That's it? Boring?"

" **What do you want from me, a haiku? I was completely alone in a grey, empty, prison. It was really REALLY boring. And you really should stop talking out loud. People are starting to stare."**

Zell briefly looked around at the medics who were starting at him with raised brows.

"It's okay," he reassured. "I'm just talking to the voices in my head."

Ifrit mentally slapped his forehead in frustration. 'It's still better than eternal solitude,' he repeated to himself like a mantra.

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-Squall's Mindscape-

"So, Ifrit is going to be staying in Zell's mind?" asked Squall, sitting comfortably on one of the chairs in his "reading room" mindscape. "I give him three days before he tries coming over here."

"That would be rather difficult I'm afraid. The human conscious of a single man is usually too small to even bond with one guardian, let alone two. You and your friends are the exceptions since you've been holding Guardians in your mind for about three years now."

Siren continued. "If you trained yourself, you could probably handle three, perhaps even four, but four would be your absolute limit. Any more and your body would probably explode, or some nasty equivalent."

Squall sighed. "If you guys knew that I would eventually need to recruit help to hold all of the guardians, why did I need to keep this from my friends?"

"We needed time to determine which of your friends we could trust."

That perturbed him a bit. "I can vouch for them."

"But we can't," replied Siren, steadfast. "And as much as you would like to trust them, we are completely clueless as to who the enemies real agents are. As we speak Ifrit is sifting through Zell's memories, making sure that he can be trusted with our secret."

"That seems a little extreme."

"Nevertheless. The Omega Weapon has spies everywhere, put in place long before even you were born. Anyone, including your friends, could be an agent."

"What about Cid then? Why didn't you go through his memories?"

"We did. We also went through Wedge's as well."

"How?"

"A Guardian ability. If any of them had a trace of Omega Weapon in them, we would have eliminated them immediately."

Squall sighed. "Look, can you just- I dunno, perhaps give me a heads up before you go off killing someone please?"

"What if one of the agents were one of your friends? What then? Would you really have the courage to fight against them? Would you really be able to eliminate them for the good of the world?"

Squall didn't respond, but Siren didn't seem like she was expecting one.

"Our mission comes first Squall, before anything. Failure to send Omega Weapon back to the void means there won't be _any_ of your friends left, regardless of whom we have to eliminate."

"And failure to adhere to my one simple request of one god damn minor forewarning means that this quest might stop right here and now!"

A silence fell over Squall's mindscape as the shout echoed around the room.

"You'd forsake the entire world for your friends wouldn't you?"

"I did once, I'd probably do it again."

Siren was silent for a whole minute this time. "Alright Squall, you win. We'll tell you who the agents are before we take action. But you, in return, have to help in neutralizing them. Agreed?"

"Agreed. And Siren?"

The Guardian of Silence looked up.

"If it's any reassurance, I don't want the world to be destroyed either."

Siren laughed. "And if it's any reassurance to you, I don't exactly like the fact we may have to the eliminate some of the very people we were created to protect."

Squall held out his hand. "Still friends?"

"Of course." Siren took his hand, but took it one step further, pulling him into a hug. "For the time being," she whispered teasingly into his ear.

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A/N: At five thousand words, this is the longest GF chapter to date. I honestly couldn't think of a better stopping point than this one right here. Man I'm good! And yes, many of you may think that Chapter 7 was pointless with the card games and all, but it will serve a purpose later!

Reviews are appreciated but not necessary. Any questions you have I can answer as long as you leave a signed review or provide an e-mail address. I'll try to respond to all my reviews, as they are really the only thing I'm getting from writing this (aside from self-satisfaction of course).

Last but not least, I have a poll going on in my profile. If it's not too much trouble, stop by and vote. The poll will most likely have an impact to future updates.

And now, it's Omake Time:

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 **The Guardian Room**

Squall looked around confused at the room in his mindscape. Instead of his regular comfy chairs and fireplace, it appeared to be the interior of a fancy car. At one end sat Shiva and Ifrit, the latter with his hands folded in front of his face.

" **Welcome, to the velvet room."**

"Huh?"

" **Do not be alarmed, you are fast asleep in the real world."**

Squall sweatdropped. "Have you guys been getting into my Persona memories again?"

" **Do you believe in destiny?"**

"Ugh, not again."

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	20. Guardian Fury: Chapter 10

A/N: 

_1 Year ago..._

Squall eyed the guard to Caraway's mansion with disdain. "Are you serious? We're trying to plot the assassination of one of the worlds most powerful political leaders, where time is of the essence, and you want us to find the ID number of a god damn student stupid enough to go grave digging?"

"Hey look pal," the guard said, annoyance on his face. "My orders came from general Caraway himself. He told me, to tell you, that you need to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and find the missing student's ID number."

The mercenary looked around briefly at the relatively empty streets. "You know I could shoot you right now and I don't think many people would care." The guard backpedaled slowly as Squall stepped nearer.

"Woah Squall, take it easy man," said Zell suddenly, putting a hand on his leader's shoulder, only to quickly remove it at the glare he received. "Right, sorry, no touching. Seriously though, he's probably got fifty people just like him at his beck and call. We'd be killing them all day." The guard was shaking now as the small group continued discussing his death with casual ease.

With a visible effort, Squall calmed himself, letting his anger relax. "You!" He barked at the guard who reflexively stood at attention. "Stay right here. I'll be back." The guard nodded quickly.

Spying a pay phone in the vicinity, Squall walked over and inserted some Gil, punching in the number for Balamb garden. After a couple rings, the other end picked up. "Balamb Garden, how may I direct your call?"

"Squall Leonhart, code named Lion Heart. Identification number 289. Could you put me through to headmaster Cid please?"

"Certainly Mr. Leonhart. One moment please." A few chords of hold music followed.

"This is Cid. What can I help you with Squall?"

"Sorry to bother you headmaster, but I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"If it's in my power to help, I will."

"There was a student who got himself killed in the Tomb of the Unknown King a while back. I was wondering if you could tell me his ID number."

"Sure thing. Any special reason you need to know this though?"

"Let's just say it'll make this mission go a lot faster."

All of Squall's party and Caroway's guard swetdropped as he hung up the phone a second later and walked back to the guard.

"The student's number is 175. Satisfied?" His eyes dared the man to say otherwise.

"I don't think that's quite what he-"

"SATISFIED?" An aura was beginning to become visible now.

"P-p-please. Go on in sir!" 

_Present Time..._

Despite having fled from an erupting volcano on the back of a fire demon, Squall's group had emerged relatively unscathed. Zell had received the worst of it, having had to keep an entire legion of fiends at bay while the others had battled, but his new junction to Ifrit had ensured a swift recovery and increased heat resistence.

In the meantime, the volcano erupting on Balamb Island had caused a huge amount of paperwork. Forest fires had to be put out, huge clouds of ash were currently obscuring the sun, Balamb Garden needed a new SeeD examination course, and Cid had apparently found a lead.

"So what exactly is this?"

"It's a lamp," said Cid simply.

"I know it's a lamp. Why are you showing me this?" Asked Squall impatiently.

"It's something that I meant to give to you before you left for Timber but I accidentally misplaced it."

Squall sighed. "Look, unless it's going to produce a magic genie that we can use to wish this entire conflict away, I still don't see how this is going to help us."

"It's not a magic lamp," protested Cid, "It's a cursed magic lamp."

The SeeD shrugged. "So it's an evil genie then. Again, how does this help us?"

"I think there might be a guardian in here."

That perked Squall's interest. "How can you be sure?"

"I was digging through some old records on the guardians that were used here in the past before we started rotating Quetzacotl, Shiva and Ifrit," he explained, picking up a file on top of his desk. He handed it to Squall who began reading.

"It says there that at one point NORG was using a Guardian known as Diablos, but the first SeeD soldiers that tried to use it were violently rejected."

 _'Yeah, Diablos always was kind of an asshole,"_ chimed in Siren.

 _'Hey! Don't speak about him behind his back like that,"_ protested Shiva.

 _'Hey, you were thinking it too.'_

"After the third SeeD was put into a coma," continued Cid, unaware of the mental conversation going on, "They confined him to a prison of some sort. There weren't any details provided, but we can probably assume that this lamp is the key."

Squall put the file down with a nod. "Diablos huh? Don't think I ever ran into his body on my travels. What do you two think?" The question was directed at Shiva and Siren.

"It's possible that his spirit and body remained whole throughout the imprisonment," said Siren, appearing in a bright flash next to Squall.

A mini ice tornado swept up on Squall's right, heralding the arrival of Shiva. "I agree. Unless the guardian allows it, there's no way a normal human could junction themselves to a complete guardian. Probably explains why it hurt the ones who tried."

Squall stared at the lamp intently. "So you're telling me that this lamp contains the devil, known for his hatred of human beings and traumatizing of the ones that tried to bond with him, correct?"

Shiva was silent for a minute. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

The SeeD tossed the lamp back onto the table. "I think I'll let this one sit a while."

Siren looked shocked. "Why?"

"Hey, he ain't going anywhere. Besides, we don't know anyone who could junction him successfully. Never mind that he's opposed to junctioning in the first place."

"Makes sense I suppose," said Shiva hesitantly. "Do we have any other leads?" This question was directed at Cid.

The headmaster sighed. "Not as many as I'd like. I've been digging through a lot of old documents lately that NORD had previously hidden from me. There are scattered reports of some sort of research center which was experimenting with powerful guardians, but the location was top secret. There's also a few reports of some Esthar labs running tests as well, but nothing solid."

Squall looked over the large world map spread out over the wall, tiny pins indicating where the located guardians had been found. "At least three of these guardians were stolen from our enemies during our trips. Edea briefly gave Carbuncle to Seifer before I beat him up and took it from him. Fuijin was using Pandemonium for a time before I beat him up, NORG was junctioned with Leviathan when I fought him, and Edea was using Alexander."

Cid nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know about Carbuncle, but Leviathan and Pandemonium have been here a long time. I can probably pull up the records on them and get a clue to their locations. Quetzacotl too now that I think about it. Edea would be more than happy to provide information about Carbuncle and Alexander as well."

"And if there really are only sixteen primary guardians to worry about, then that leaves seven unaccounted for," finished Squall. "Chances are that at least one GF will be at the Deep Sea Research Center, and with our luck it will be the most powerful one of the bunch."

Siren blinked. "Deep Sea? How did you come to that conclusion?"

Squall shrugged. "Simple. I've been all over the world on foot. If there was any place to hide a research center, it'd either be deep underground, or somewhere in the middle of the sea." Taking a pin from the board, he stuck it in the middle of the biggest ocean.

"Who do you think it is?" asked Shiva, peering over his shoulder.

"Bahamut," he said simply. "The most dangerous guardian known to man. They probably secluded the laboratory to make sure that the mainland wouldn't be affected if they lost control of them. Thoughtful of them really."

"It's a sound theory," provided Cid, "but I don't think we have the resources or time necessary to make an expedition to the middle of the sea based on a theory. Not to mention I don't like Balamb's chances against an irate imprisoned dragon."

Squall waved him off. "I'd rather fight Diablo naked then go after the king of dragons without sufficient backup. Besides, I can't even start looking for it until the Ragnarock is repaired."

Cid sat down, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. "So where does that leave us then?"

"I found Shiva in the middle of an ice storm near Shumi Village. Ifrit was in the middle of an active volcano. I can't be certain, but it seems to me that the guardian's spirits are drawn to wherever their element is strongest."

"What about me then?" asked Siren cutely.

"You don't have an element," dismissed Squall. "Finding you was just dumb luck."

"How rude." Squall nearly jumped as he felt a pair of warm arms wrap around his neck from behind. "Finding me is the best kind of luck," she purred in his ear, sending shivers down his spine, making him distinctly aware of her generous assets pressed into his back.

The mercenary tried to shrug of Siren's embrace, but the woman was stronger than she looked. Finally, Shiva came to his aid, grabbing her cousin in a headlock and prying her off the helpless SeeD. "Flirt with the pretty boy later cuz. We're doing important world saving business right now."

Siren pouted but relented. "You never let me have any fun."

Squall gave a light cough, trying to dismiss the scene as nothing relevant. "Anyways, if we assume that someone like Quetzacotl is drawn to electricity, it stands to reason he'd be in or around the technological epicenter of the world, Esthar."

"That's not exactly an easy trip for this garden either," said Cid cautiously.

Squall dismissed this comment too. "That's okay. I was thinking of something a bit closer to home." Picking up another pin, he stuck it squarely on the map.

"The tomb of the unknown king?" said Cid, puzzlement clear on his face. "Who were you planning on finding there?"

"The Brothers," said Squall, moving back to the front of Cid's desk. "About a year ago, Caroway tried to send me on a mission to find the ID of some stupid kid who got himself killed there. At the time, I was a little pissed off so I just called you to find the ID number and get access."

Cid remembered. That had been a rather odd phone call.

Squall rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Of course, later I learned that he was trying to send me there to subdue a GF for my mission, but I didn't care at the time." He shook his head. "But that's not important now. The Brothers are of the element earth. The tomb is one of the last ancient catacombs still standing. It stands to reason that the Brothers would be drawn to an earthen tomb. We might not find the spirit there, but at least we can find the body."

Cid nodded thoughtfully. "And for a trip like that, you could just take the train from Balamb and not have to worry about moving the garden around. Sounds like you have everything worked out. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Just keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open. Any kind of geographical anomalies might be a sign of a guardian's spirit awakening," said Shiva before vanishing in a burst of mist.

"And be on the lookout for Omega's agents." Siren then disappeared in a flash of light.

"And I'm not paying for my own train ticket this time," Squall shot over his shoulder as he walked out of the office.

 _Balmb Garden: Training Center_

"So how long were you imprisoned?" asked Zell curiosly, looking at the scaled down version of Ifrit.

" **That's a good question. What day is it today?"** Even when he wasn't in his gigantic demon form, his voice seemed incapable of being anything but deep and menacing.

"Uhh..." Zell thought for a minute. "Thursday."

" **Right. I've been imprisoned for about three millenniums,"** he deduced.

"Sounds boring. How'd you entertain yourself?"

" **Slept mostly. Sung songs other times. Went insane for a few years. Regained it a few years later. Plotted a few hundred different ways to get revenge on those that wronged me. Pretty standard stuff really."**

"Zell. Ifrit." The two turned towards the new arrival and saw Squall walking towards them, gunblade over his shoulder.

"Hey man!" Zell waved him over. "Dude, these guardians are awesome! Have you tried sparring with one of them yet?"

Squall looked at Ifrit's human sized form. Two horns were atop his head, curving down behind his back, ending in vicious points. The red and yellow hair that covered his body seemed to flicker, as if they were made of flame. His entire body was heavily muscled, and his hands and feet were both adorned with sharp, lethal looking claws.

"You...sparred with him?" Squall asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Zell seemed genuinely shocked that he doubted his word. "He fights pretty well for someone who's been imprisoned for a few thousand years."

Ifrit turned to Squall, with something akin to a look of worry on his face. **"I think your friend might be insane, but he holds himself very well in a fight."**

Squall covered a smile. It was nice to see that even with a new crisis bubbling around them, Zell was still his usual energetic self. "We've acquired a new target," he said, slipping into commander mode. Instinctively, Zell stood a little straighter. Beside him, Ifrit payed him full attention.

"I won't go into details until we have the whole party assembled, but we're taking the train to Dollet city in two hours. Make sure to get something to eat before we leave. We're going to be pretty busy once we get there."

"Sure thing cap," said Zell happily. "I was getting a little bored of sitting around anyways. Come on Ifrit, allow me to show you the miracle of hot dogs."

Before he could run out of the training center, Squall halted him by grabbing his shoulder. "Zell, I don't think the rest of the garden is ready for a walking talking fire demon running through the halls of the garden. Secrecy remember?"

Zell rubbed the back of his head. "Right, sorry cap." Beside him, Ifrit vanished in a pillar of flames. "See you at the entrance in a couple hours."

 _Teacher Dormitories: Wedge's Room_

"Enjoying your new quarters?"

Wedge looked up from his edition of Weapons Weekly to see the SeeD commander standing in the doorway of his new room. "The last three years I was in the army, I was bunking with Biggs in a room that was about as big as I am tall. You could have given me my own room in a broom closet and it still would have compared favorably to my old quarters in the Galbadian army."

Squall repressed a smirk. "I'll take that as a yes then. How are your injuries?"

Wedge rotated his shoulders experimentally. "Little sore, but completely healed thanks to Siren. I love the medical coverage this job gives."

"See any blades you like yet?" asked Squall, gesturing to the magazine.

"The Punishment blade looks pretty good, but you really can't beat a custom made gunblade like that one," he said, pointing to Squall's old blade leaning up against the wall in its sheath.

The SeeD shrugged. "Well, feel free to keep using it until we can customize one for you."

Wedge nodded slowly. "Alright then, now that we have pleasantries out of the way, what can I do for you?"

"We've got a potential guardian near Dollet."

Wedge sighed. "Man, that quickly? Which one is it?"

"The Brothers. Earth element."

Wedge pondered for a moment. "I don't know. Dollet is still pretty much a Galbadia controlled city. Might not be wise for me to show my face there."

Squall sighed. "Wedge, I don't think anyone knows what your face looks like."

"Huh?"

"Take a look at your profile," said Squall, handing him a folder. "Didn't they even bother asking you to take your helmet off for the photos they took?"

Wedge looked through the book and saw that it was true. Every picture in there had his face half covered by the standard helmet he'd always worn. Even his drivers license.

"Probably explains why Selphie was able to sneak into their nuclear missile silo so easily. It's hard to tell you guys apart sometimes."

"Alright," he conceded, "I'm in. But who is going to carry the Brothers? I thought Zell needed time to recover before he could attempt another true junction."

"You are," said Squall simply.

Wedge's brain took a second to process what he'd just heard. "I'm sorry, did you just say I was going to junction this one?"

"That's the idea. Chances are we're only going to find the shell of the guardian, but it'll help facilitate a true junction when we find the Brothers' spirit."

Wedge rubbed his head worriedly. "Squall, I've been here less than two days. Do you really think the headmaster is going to trust me with a GF that early?"

"The headmaster doesn't decide on things like this," countered Squall easily. "I'm commander of the garden. Who I decide to hire is my business and GF assignment is also my business. You've helped me kill two of these things now, and you weren't even junctioned. If that doesn't make you deserving, I don't know what does."

Wedge remained silent. Apparently trust hadn't a big commodity in Galbadia.

"I'll see you at the gate in a couple of hours."

Despite being the commander of Balamb's armed forces, Squall had made it a point to take his meals in the lunchroom along with everyone else. Cid had told him soon after he took command that it would make everyone feel easier around him if he ate with the 'troops' so to speak. As much as he disliked social interaction with nameless faceless people, he could see where the idea had its merits.

"Squallie!"

Of course, sitting out in the open lunch room also made him an easy target.

"Hello Selphie," said Squall evenly, trying to deafen his senses to the bright cheerful attitude permanently attached to her presence.

"I figured you'd be brooding in the back of the lunchroom."

"Quistis," he said evenly, returning to his ramen. "What can I help you with?"

"I don't suppose you'd consider that I only wanted to have lunch with an old student of mine?" she asked humorously.

Squall rolled his eyes. "You usually take lunch in your classroom to work over lesson plans and you," he continued, pointing at Selphie, "are still organizing the quad for the next graduation festival." Both woman had the grace to look sheepish. "So again, what can I help you with?"

Quistis took a seat in front of him. "Alright, you caught me. I came to ask you for the layout of the practical part of the examination. I need to know what to start preparing the students for."

"Hostage situations and stealth operations," he replied simply. "I've left the details with headmaster Cid, but we'll have a working exam in less than a week if all goes well." He glanced at Selphie, silently giving her permission to speak.

"Do you have a speech planned for the graduating students?" she asked hopefully. "They'll expect you to give one at the party afterwards."

"Not...yet," he replied cautiously.

" _They want you, the master of the ellipses to give a speech?"_ asked Shiva silently.

" _Oh I can just imagine that now. Congratulations on passing everyone....now you can go into the field and get shot for real...till next year everyone,"_ quipped Siren.

"Great! I already made a speech for you because I knew you wouldn't!"

Squall put up a hand, forestalling her explanation. "First of all, I refuse to recite any speech including the words 'love' 'joy' 'peace' 'happiness' 'excited' 'grateful' and-"

"I know, I know," assured Selphie, cutting him off. "Quistis already gave me the list of words you refuse to say in conversation and I cut them out."

"Did you include thesaurus entries for those words too?" he inquired.

"Yes, and before you ask I didn't use any double negatives either."

The commander sighed. "Fine, I'll take a look at it. Now what are you two really doing here?"

"We're just wondering why you aren't taking us along on with you on your super secret mission today."

Squall raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I have a mission today?"

"Zell is bad at keeping secrets," said Selphie simply. "He was incredibly evasive when we tried to ask him for help in the quad, saying he had other things to do."

"You didn't use to keep secrets from us Squall."

The SeeD raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe you did. But this is different. Why won't you let us help you?" Quistis nearly pleaded the last sentence.

" _Man, I think she has it for you pretty bad,"_ said Shiva.

" _Nah, it's a teacher-student relationship. Those never go anywhere,"_ countered Siren. _"He could probably get a wonderful night of wild passion if he wasn't such a p-"_

Squall slammed his mind shut, pulling the plug on their inner dialogue. He took a deep breath before daring to look at Quistis again.

"Professor," he addressed her formally. "I of all people know how well you can be trusted, but this is just one of those things I'm going to have to ask you to drop, as commander of Balamb's defense forces."

Quistis recoiled as if she had been struck. Squall had never pulled rank on her before.

"I trust you," he amended quickly, "but there are other things at play here, most of them bigger than me and my position."

The teacher's face was still sullen, but she nodded slowly in understanding. "I understand. But why does Wedge get to go with you then?"

"Dumb luck," he said simply. "He got caught up in the mess I was making and got dragged along for the ride. I'm just lucky he's being such a good sport about it."

"Hey!" broke in Selphie. "What about me?"

"I wouldn't trust you with the number combination to my briefcase," said Squall casually, leaning back in his chair.

The female SeeD pouted cutely. "Aww, that's mean."

Squall shrugged. "Selphie, the minute I talk to you, the entire garden will know the whole mission. These things are labeled 'secret' for a reason you know?"

"I can keep a secret," she said defiantly, a small fire in her eyes.

"Hey Selphie, what does Zell like to do in the training grounds after curfew?"

"Every Friday night he goes to the training room in only his boxers and some war paint so he can feel closer to nature as he fights the training room monsters bare-fisted," she rattled off instantly. As if realizing what she'd just said, she brought a hand to her mouth, her face in a look of surprise. "Oops. I was supposed to keep that a secret." Beside her, Quistis face-palmed.

Squall got up and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll be back in a few days. Don't worry too much."

*click*

" _Man, is she really the same age as you?"_ Inquired Siren, having broke through his mental block. _"Hard to believe. Probably why he hasn't done her yet. She could make a guy feel like a pe-"_

 _*SLAM*_

 _Train from Balamb to Delling..._

"Thanks to our contacts in the technological utopia of Esthar, we were able to pull up some old blueprints of our destination," said Squall to the assembled humans and guardians. "First off, I'd like to ask the guardians if they have any insight into our opponent."

" **Slow but powerful,"** provided Ifrit. **"It may take them a while to warm up, but they can easily work up earth tearing tremors."**

"They heal themselves from the earth," said Shiva. "We'll have to find some way to lift them off the ground if we want to defeat them."

"Float magic should take care of that problem." Softly, he heard Wedge mumble something under his breath.

"What was that Wedge?" asked Squall patiently.

"I was just wondering if we really had to fight them underground," he said aloud after a seconds hesitation.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when we fought Ifrit, he nearly brought a volcano down on our heads. If we walk in there like we did in the fire cavern, we'll just be playing into their hands again."

Squall nodded thoughtfully. "This is probably true, but we have little choice but to confront him down in his lair. We'll just have to adapt to any traps he may have set."

"What if we spring our own trap?" asked Zell suddenly.

The mercenary gave him a flat look. "Our own trap?"

"Yeah!" Zell was excited now. "What if, instead of him bringing the place down on us, we bring it down on him?"

"You mean," began Wedge hesitantly, "blow up the place before he can?"

"Exactly! That way we can fight on our terms on the surface, or we can crush him under the rubble."

Squall blinked and made a show of cleaning out his ear. "You know, something might be wrong with me, but I don't really think that's a bad idea."

" **Wake up the spirit, goad him into combat, then bring his home down around his ears. It seems to be a sturdy plan."**

"Well, we are destroying a hundreds of years old tomb filled with the mysteries of the old world," pointed out Squall. Meeting the flat looks of his party members, he gave a small shrug. "But hey, if they actually cared about him, they'd remember his name."

Turning towards Wedge, he began giving orders. "Soon as we get to Dollet, you'll be in charge of finding explosives. Get enough to level a small city if you can manage it without alerting the authorities. Zell, I want you to make sure we have enough refined float magic to lift Dollet off the ground if we wanted. I'm going to secure a hotel room to be our base of operations while we're in Delling. Don't draw attention to yourselves, don't start fights unless you won't get caught, and stay the hell away from Caroway's mansion. That's one headache I'd rather just avoid for now."

The train bell dinged, signaling their arrival at Delling city.

"Gentlemen, guardians, it's time to go kill us a king."

A/N: Here is a general outline of the current GF situation. The ones they don't know about aren't on this list yet.

Siren: Acquired (Body and soul)

Ifrit: Acquired (Body and soul)

Shiva: Acquired (Body and soul)

Diablos: Imprisoned (Body and soul)

Carbuncle: (Body acquired)

Leviathan: (Body acquired)

Pandemonia: (Body acquired)

Quetzacotl: (Body acquired)

Alexander: (Body acquired)

Brothers: (Location Known: Body un-acquired)


	21. Kingdom Bloopers: Chapter 1

Author's Forward: Somehow, this fic was never reported or taken down despite it going against 's policies. But I suppose if you look in the right place you can still find good lemons around, so who knows why this thing survived? Nothing really insightful to say here, just a lot of jokes, ranging from painful to passable with some 'script format' sprinkled in just for added cringe.

* * *

You've played Kingdom hearts, you know the story. This is what you didn't see.

 **Destiny Island**

Sora and Rikku are fighting each other:

Sora swung his wooden sword at Rikku who made a spectacular leap that easily cleared the treetops and landed behind Sora.

"How can you jump that high?"

Rikku pulls out a pair of sunglasses and puts them on, "I've been trained in the Matrix."

 **Traverse Town**

"I'm Yuffie, the greatest Ninja in the world."

"And modest too," Leon mumbled under his breath.

Yuffie twitched, "Oh yeah? Well at least I didn't get beaten by a key wielding punk!"

"I can take you on any day you little thief!"

"Why you…"

Sora stares blankly as Yuffie and Leon start fighting eachother, "Um… guys?"

 **Atlantica: Under the Sea**

In the Gummi Ship:

"Don't worry!" quacked Donald, "My magic will protect us."

The party is transferred down into the sea where they assume the likeness of sea creatures. However Sora notices something big and yellow.

"Donald? What's that?"

"Oh, that's your shoes. They were too big to fit into subspace."

 **Hollow Bastion**

Sora backed off as the dragon Maleficent swung her tail around in an attempt to hit him. Then she swung her tail around again, and again, and again, and again, and…

Sora: 'Huh? What the?'

Maleficent: "Catch the tail, catch the tail, catch the tail!"

 **Olympus Coliseum**

Sora looks at the big form of the rock Titan.

"I have to beat him?"

"Don't worry Sora! The power of our hearts will help us win!"

"Donald, we've been through this. HEARTS…PUMP…BLOOD!"

 **Hollow Bastion**

"I don't need the keyblade. I have the best weapon of all."

"What?" asks Rikku, "Your heart? That puny little thing?"

"No…THIS!"

Sora runs up to Rikku and kicks him in the groin. Then punches him in the face. Finally he elbow drops him on the head knocking him out. He then casually picks up the keyblade.

 **Olympus Coliseum: Platinum Match**

Sora watches as the one winged angel descends from the air, unfurl his wing and unsheathe his 7 foot sword.

Sora looks down at his little keyblade and back at the black clothed man's sword. He takes another look at his keyblade and says one thing.

"Oh Hell no."

 **Olympus Coliseum: Lobby**

Phil is speaking to Sora.

"Okay, since Hades is back in hell I have devised a new cup called "THE MASTERS CUP! There's only 10 matches this time."

Sora smirked, "Well that doesn't sound too hard."

Phil unrolls a scroll and begins reading.

"Match 1 is Tarzan, Peter Pan, Yuffie, and Capt. Hook at the same time. Match 2 is against the Ice Titan, the Rock Titan and Hades…

1 hour later…

"And finally you have to fight against Sephiroth, Cloud, Leon, and Hercules at the same time. Got that kid? Oh and this is solo, so you cant have your friends with you."

Sora had been standing there for the past half hour with his mouth open.

"Um, Sora?"

"Gwarsh, I think he fainted."

 **Hollow Bastion**

Rikku: "Lead me into everlasting Darkness! Let your heart be consumed by DARKNESS!"

Sora: "Hey Rikku? What's so great about the darkness anyway?"

Rikku: …

Sora: Well?

Rikku: "Shut up and fight."

 **Deep Jungle**

Tarzan glided smoothly over the trees as he had so many times in his youth. Looking behind him he saw Sora tripping and stumbling his way down the trees, being hit by every branch along the way.

Noticing Tarzan staring Sora shouted at him.

"What the heck do you expect? The only thing these shoes are good for is a frikin flotation device!"

 **Wonderland**

"Okay, so we drink this to make ourselves able to fit through that door."

Sora and company take a drink of the formula just after a bunch of heartless appear. From his tiny prospective he sees the enormous heartless about to step on him.

'Something tells me this wasn't a very good idea…'

 **Hollow Bastion**

Rikku: The princess' heart is inside you. Its calling out to her. Cant you feel it?

Sora: I have two hearts? No wonder I never had to sleep.

 **Agrabah Desert: Kurt Zisa Battle**

Kurt Zisa bursts from the sand and roars. Sora doesn't even flinch.

Kurt looks confused, "Hey! Why didn't I surprise you?"

Sora shrugs, "The action music came on."

 **Olympus Coliseum: Platinum Match**

After much dipping, dodging, and ducking, Sora finally manages to land a hit on Sephiroth. Looking at him with the scan ability he sees that his life bar hasn't dropped.

"Hey! What the heck? I just hit you, why didn't your life bar drop?"

Sephiroth shrugged, "They ran out of colors to overlap my bar."

A/N: And now you know the truth .

Love it? Hate it? Got a few laughs? Leave a review regardless.

ClanCrusher


	22. Kingdom Bloopers: Chapter 2

Welcome to the second chapter of Kingdom Bloopers. I didn't think that I was going to continue this, but what the hell.

Maleficent: Chase the tail, Chase the tail, Chase the Tail, Chase the Tail

ClanCrusher: Will somebody please shut her up? Sigh. On with the story.

Blue Trinity: Stomp Red Trinity: Charge 

Yellow Trinity: Push

Green Trinity: Ladder

White Trinity: Reveal

Trinity Trouble 

In Kingdom Hearts you may have run across several trinity marks. Unfortunately, they don't always work like they're supposed to.

Blue Trinity: Trinity Stomp 

"1..2..3..Stomp!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy jump and stop the ground. Nothing happens.

"Ok, lets try this again, 1..2..3..Stomp!"

Again, nothing happens.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing?"

Sora looks up in the air expectantly, all of a sudden…

WHAM! 

Goofy sweatdrops as he looks at where Sora's head had been pounded into the ground by a huge treasure chest.

Blue Trinity: Atlantica 

"Now how the hell are we supposed to get this one?" shouts Sora as he waves his tail fin.

Blue Trinity: Traverse Town 

"One, Two, Three!"

Donald, Goofy, and Sora all jump on the ground at the same time…

SPLASH

And immediately get drenched by someone's dirty water that was balanced on a windowsill.

 **Ever wonder why the other characters can't do Trinities?**

 **Tarzan: Blue Trinity**

"&&!"

"No! Just stomp your feet on three, its not that hard!"

"&&!"

Tarzan stomps his foot three times.

"No! When I say three!"

Tarzan stomps his foot again.

"Not that three!"

Tarzan stomps his foot again.

Arial: Blue Trinity 'Looks down at the Trinity' 

"You want me to do what?"

 **Peter Pan: Blue Trinity**

"Get down here and help us with this thing."

Peter looks down at his legs, "I cant."

"And why not?"

"Because I can't stop flying! AHHHHH!"

 **Aladdin: Green Trinity (Ladder)**

"Its no good! Your too short!" Shouted Donald as he grabbed for the chest just out of his reach.

"Hey quit moving around, it's hard enough to balance as it is!" Replied Aladdin

"Look out! You're leaning to far forwaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

CRASH

 **Jack Skellington: Green Trinity**

"Come on!" Shouts Sora to the skeleton as he struggles to lift him.

Jack is almost able to stand up straight but then collapses dumping the ladder on the ground.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm all bone and no muscle."

Sepiroth: White Trinity "Ow! God damnit stand further back! Farther, farther, farther, ok lets try this again." Moving on…

**Trinity Ladder (Or Not):**

"Ok here we go. Goofy, you're on the bottom. Donald, your on top."

Just as they are about to perform the trinity several heartless appear. However they are dispatched with ease.

"Let's try this again."

Again more heartless appear.

"Ok, let's try again…"

More heartless.

"One more time."

Several waves later…

"You know what? Forget it. Donald come here!"

Sora grabs Donald by the neck and shouts, "TRINITY MISSILE!" and throws Donald at the chest, knocking it to the ground.

Magic Pixie Dust 

Peter Pan sways unsteadily on his feet before falling down, his eyes glazed over.

Peter Pan: Believe in da big bawana dude, and you can fly above ze clouds!

Sora: Uh Peter? Have you been smoking pixie dust again?

The Magic of Disney Runs on… 

"We've always been rivals but now it comes down to this. There can't be two keyblade masters."

Riku holds out his hand expectantly. The keyblade shakes violently in Sora's grip but then suddenly stops.

"Huh? What happened?"

Sora shakes the keyblade a couple times, "Stupid Duracell, I thought they were supposed to last forever!"

Why Bad Guys Shouldn't Monologue 

(Ending Scene with Ansem)

"I…I cant be defeated here! Kingdom Hearts, bestow me with eternal…UHG!

"Strike Raid!"

"Firaga!"

"Rocket!"

Ansem is then on the receiving end of several projectiles, each one hitting a vital spot. After the onslaught Ansem is no more.

"Yeah, like we're really going to stand here and let you power up, sheesh. What do you think this is? Dragonball Z?"

End 

Ok that's enough of that. I didn't think I was actually going to update this fic but…well here it is. Please tell me what you think. As for future bloopers I'm not sure. If I think of more I'll be sure to put them down.

Love it? Hate it? Leave a review anyways.

ClanCrusher


	23. Kingdom Bloopers: Chapter 3

Thought I was out of ideas did you? Well, you're wrong! So here are some new ones.

Maleficent: Chase the tail, chase the tail, chase the tail, chase the tail…

ClanCrusher: Sigh. Sora?

Sora: Fetch!

Maleficent: Get the ball! Get the ball! Get the ball!

 **Leon's House: Traverse Town**

"Leon! You have a trinity mark in here? Why didn't you tell us?" 

"Um…Sora?"

"Don't worry, we'll take care of this."

"Sora?"

"Okay, stomp on three. One, two, three!"

CRASH 

Leon looks down into the hole Sora and his friends had created, "The woods rotten…"

 **The Bad Guys Place (Wherever that is…)**

Maleficent, Oogie Boogie, Hades, Jafar, and Ursala are all sitting around the great stone tablet discussing their evil plans when all of a sudden…

CRASH Sora, Donald, and Goofy all stand up and look around for a minute… 

"Um…Hey guys…how's it going…run…"

"What?" asked Donald, wand at the ready.

"Yeah…uh…didn't mean to interrupt your secret meeting or anything…run."

"Did you say…"

"RUN!"

A couple minutes later everyone is finally shaken out of their shock.

"I told you it was a bad idea to put our base here."

"And what the hell are you doing here?"

The bad guys turn to see Leon, Cloud, Yuffie, Aeries, Sora, Sepiroth, Hercules, Riku, Donald, and Goofy standing in the doorway.

Oogie Boogie speaks, "Um…Hey guys…how ya doing? Just having a little frap party…run.

 **The Bad Guys Meeting: Part 2**

It had been a long hard journey but Sora had finally overcome the many obstacles and was ready to take the bad guys on in their lair. Dispatching the heartless guarding the door he kicks the door open but… 

"Hey! Where is everyone?"

Maleficent watches them from her pool of water…

"Hah! Those fools will never find me! Now that I have relocated the lair to my Aunt's backyard!"

"Miss? The biscuits are done."

"Excellent!"

Destiny Island 

Sora rolled to the side and avoided another blitz ball Waka had thrown at him. He got up just in time to see another ball being thrown at him. Quickly dodging he brought his sword up in time to block a third ball.

"Where the hell do you keep getting these things?"

"Eh, Costco was having a sale."

The End of the Game "Hey Pluto, watcha up to?" 

"What's that in his mouth?"

"It's a letter. With the kings seal!"

"Pluto! Here boy!"

Pluto merely turns his head and runs off down the path. All of the adventurers laugh and start running after him.

2 hours later:

"Stupid…dog. Get…back here!"

Pluto keeps running.

"Damnit Goofy, this is the last time I ever chase after an animated dog!"

Destiny Island "Sora are you ok?" 

"Oh man Kari it was weird man. There was this dark place and all these dark bugs and I got this cool sword and and…"

"Um Sora, have you been sniffing Paupou leaves again?"

"Um…"

Leon's (Squall's) House 

"Tell me what happened."

Sora begins to explain everything when all of a sudden…

 _SQUAK SQUAK SQUAK SQUAK  
_  
"What the hell is that?"

Leon pulls out a key chain and presses a button.

"Sorry that was my chocobo alarm."

 **Platinum Match (Sepiroth)**

Sora watches as Sepiroth makes his usual entrance into the arena. He had gotten used to it by now, having fought him many times.

"You know," commented Sora idly as he watched Sepiroth unfurl his wing, "You really need to tell me how you got that theme music."

"Sorry kid, it's a bad guys special privilege."

"Aww…"

 **Behind the Behind the scenes:**

ClanCrusher smirked as he finished typing off another blooper and saving it to his hard drive. It sure was fun to write about all the mistakes that the KH cast made.

DingDong

ClanCrusher stretches a few times before going to answer the door. He blinked once and blinked twice but for someone reason he could not deny that…

"Can I have a word?" asked Leon in a forced polite tone.

"Heh heh…give me a minute."

ClanCrusher slammed the door in his face and raced to the back door only to find…

"Oh ClanCrusher, can we talk for a minute?" Yuffie was holding her insanely big shuriken in her hand, the edges gleaming in the sunlight.

"Eh…heh heh, um…," said ClanCrusher smartly as he started backing away only to bump into Leon.

"I really think we need to talk about you latest…publication." Said Leon a measure of ice creeping into his voice.

"Oh come on, its no big deal!" said ClanCrusher as he maneuvered to keep them both at his front, "So what if I called Yuffie a little thief and claimed Leon got beaten by a key bank advertiser?"

The temperature of the room rose and both people were visibly manifesting red auras.

'Almost to the window, I can make it,' he thought hopefully but then…

A gloved hand rested on his shoulder and he turned to look into the face of Sepiroth.

"Well, he hasn't directly insulted us just yet." Commented Leon.

"You walk a fine line between amusing and insulting," Sepiroth said calmly, "I would watch your step in the near future and make sure your writing does not anger us."

All three turned to leave but then…

"Good thing you haven't seen the next update then…"

All three people turned to him weapons drawn.

"Hmm. Something tells me it probably would have been better to pass up that opportunity…"

We now close the curtain on the extremely violent scene that follows… 

Hi folks this is Radpatch, ClanCrusher's alter ego. From the looks of it I don't think he'll be writing anytime soon so this will probably be the last update for this story (if you call it that). Its been real folks.

ClanCrusher: AAAAHHHHH! NOT THE FACE!

I'm pretty sure ClanCrusher would still like the reviews although I'm not sure if he'll be able to read them. Thank you for all your support and I hope you got some laughs out of this fic.


	24. Kingdom Bloopers: Chapter 4

A/N: I'm back. I debated long and hard with myself about whether I should actually make some bloopers for Kingdom Hearts 2, but after non-stop pestering from my alter ego ClanCrusher, I finally decided to write this. Rejoice for Kingdom Bloopers is now another work in progress.

WARNING: This story may contain spoilers to the actual game.

11111111111111111111

 **Somewhere in the Twilight Mansion:**

Ansem/Rikku- So why don't we make a beach?

Diz- It would give the enemy another access point.

Rikku- So? Seems to me they already accessed the program. A beach isn't going to hurt.

Diz slams his fist against the keyboard nearly breaking it.

Diz- Damnit Rikku! It took me four million lines of basic just to get that damn clock tower working right! Now if you want to spend your time to make a beach, you go right ahead.

11111111111111111111

 **Twilight Town**

Axel: Look at what its come to. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you can't remember anything.

Roxas: Your Axel right? We used to work for the same guy, and we were best friends!

Axel: …

Roxas: Right?

Axel: You know, it doesn't really count as remembering if you just tell me what I've already told you.

Roxas: Goddamnit.

A few scenes later in the twilight mansion…

Roxas and Axel are facing each other down with their weapons drawn. They knew that this was going to be the final showdown.

Roxas: Axel…

Axel: So you really do remember this time. Well it's too late for that!

Roxas: No I don't remember! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?

11111111111111111111

 **Hades Coliseum: Battle 50**

Hades: Behold! For I am your final opponent!

Sora just looks dumbstruck.

Hades: What? What? Is my hair out or something?

Sora: You mean to tell me that after all the shit I went through in battle 49 a weak ass opponent like you is my last opponent? Seriously, after getting the crap beaten out of me by the final fantasy cast I was at least expecting Sepiroth in the final round!

11111111111111111111

 **Radiant Garden: Sepiroth Confrontation**

Sepiroth: So you are the wielder of the key blade then?

Goofy: I don't think we should tell you that.

Sepiroth: I wonder who the keyblade will choose at its master…once I defeat you.

Sora, Goofy, and Donald jump back bringing out their weapons.

Sora: You may have been a real asshole in the first game, but I've got some new tricks up my sleeve now. Donald, Goofy, lend me your strength! Final Form!

Sora puts his hands out expecting the key oathbreaker to come into his hand. Time stands still for a second.

Sora: Huh? Donald? Goofy? Where are you guys?

Sora looks behind him to see Donald and Goofy high tailing it out of the canyon.

Sora: I hate you guys.

11111111111111111111

 **Radiant Garden: Sepiroth Battle**

"Hey Sepiroth, I've been wondering," said Sora as he dodged around the enormous sword Sepiroth was wielding.

"About what?" asked the platinum haired fighter as he renewed his assault.

"That sword you use," said Sora crossing blades with him, "You're not…compensating are you?"

"Alright that's it, you're dead."

11111111111111111111

 **Hollow Bastion: Undetermined Time**

"Maleficent, didn't we kill you in the last game?"

"Yes you did. Unfortunately Disney's running out of Villains so I got scripted for the role again."

Sora sighed and drew his keyblade, "SSDD it is then."

(Same Shit Different Day)

11111111111111111111

 **Hollow Bastion: Before the Gate Fight**

"So let me get this straight," said Axel, "After he defeats those nobodies, we're going to appear before him using our teleportation trick and send him a bunch of thinly veiled threats and then disappear?"

"Correct."

"That's complete bullshit! Why don't we just attack him now and take the keyblade? It'll be like 13 vs. 3. We could totally kick his ass!"

"You fool! That's not the way organization XII works! First we give him a warning, and then we send you guys in one at a time to try and take him out."

"But…"

"Don't question my orders fool. Now get ready to teleport."

11111111111111111111

 **Final Battle: Xheanort**

Sora and Riku looked around at the hundreds of lasers surrounding them.

"We have to deflect all of these?" asked Sora prepping his keyblade.

"Don't worry Sora. You can do it, use the force!"

11111111111111111111

 **Portal Between Worlds**

"What were you trying to do Axel?"

Axel coughed a couple times before replying, "I wanted to see Roxas again. He was the only one…I really liked."

"…That sounds kinda gay dude."

"Hey up yours."

11111111111111111111

 **Space Paranoids**

"Just give me a second to reconfigure this computer and I'll be able to hack into the main computer and re-route one of their heartless transporters to the main computer so we can go and have a final showdown with the master computer."

"You can do all that from this computer?"

"Yes. I know I'm amazing."

Sora looks over Tron's shoulder, "It looks like you're just pressing the same keys over and over."

"I learned how to hack from old Star Trek episodes."

Beep!

"Thank you for pressing the self destruct button. Have a nice day."

"Not my fault!"

"You suck Tron."

11111111111111111111


	25. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 1

Author's Forward: Etna was awesome. I wanted to do something with her and Ranma. Unfortunately, this was definitely one of those stories where my fingers moved ahead of my brain, and I never reached a definitive idea as to what I wanted to do with the concept of throwing Ranma into Disgaea. And there was the small fact that teenage me never picked up on the fact that Mid-Boss was the late king reincarnated. Oops.

* * *

Disclaimer: This computer is stolen my life is shot. Don't sue me cause money I have not.

A/N: Forgive me if this seems like bragging but I believe that this story is the first of its kind. I hope that you enjoy this crossover fic. This takes place after the failed wedding.

Shout out to all you avid gamers out there.

Italics Means Thinking

It was another boring day at school (by Nerima standards anyway) and the pleasant warmth of the afternoon sun found Ranma sitting under a tree, staring intently at the second hand of a watch.

 _Lets see, Shampoo and Ukyo should be here in 5…4…3…2…1…_

SMASH! A section of wall near the tree caved in, scattering rubble everywhere.

"Aiyah! Shampoo have too too good lunch for Airen!"

SMASH! Another section of wall, 1 foot away from the first hole, also collapsed.

"Get away from my Ranchan you hussy!"

 _When did I ever belong to you?_ Ranma thought irritably.

Ranma ignored the two food fighting girls and concentrated on his watch again.

Hmm…Akane should be coming here in 3…2…1… "Ranma! Get back here and eat the lunch I made for you!" Guess who shouted that?

Ranma's attention didn't waver from his watch as he danced around the girls attempts at trying to force feed him there food (and in one case toxic waste).

Rival appearance in 4…3…2…1…

A third section of wall collapsed showing Ryoga with his titanium umbrella and overlarge pack.

"Ranma how dare you refuse Akane's cooking. Prepare to die!"

 _Wow this thing is really accurate. Wonder why I didn't think of this before._

Ranma choose not to respond to Ryoga's battle cry . Instead he grabbed Akane's 'lunch' and blocked Ryoga's downward swing. The umbrella Ryoga had attacked with snapped in half and Ranma clonked Ryoga on the head with the 'lunch' for an instant K.O.

Throwing the shapeless mass of matter off to the side (where it started to crawl off on its own) Ranma returned to his watch, counting down the seconds once again.

 _2…1…Cue Moouse._

"Ranma Saotome how dare you steal Shampoo from me. Prepare to die!"

Moouse promptly unloaded a barrage of chains onto the unfortunate lunch that was still crawling away from the battle scene. Said lunch somehow sprouted teeth and attacked Moouse.

 _Man, you'd think they would come up with some new lines at least. Oops, almost forgot the guest appearance right about…Now!_

All of a sudden there was a flash of light and a small girl with a mallet appeared, She took the hammer off her back and began to smash the unfortunate lunch that Akane had prepared several times, finally making it disappear.

The girl made a victory pose, "Level 5 bug eliminated!" and she vanished in a flash of light.

Well that was a lucky break. Now for the grand finale! "RANMA NO BAKA!" screamed Akane, "How dare you refuse to eat my luch!"

She summoned her mallet and launched Ranma into the LEO. Ranma let the mallet hit him. If he blocked he would never have been able to escape the 'lunch crowd' as Ranma liked to call it. Briefly looking down at the ground falling away Ranma leaned back in midair and put his hands behind his head, drifting off to sleep.

Some time later Ranma woke up from his sleep. Somewhere a voice was saying, "Thank you for riding Akane Airlines. Exits are located directly beneath you."

Ranma yawned and stretched, preparing himself for the landing. Checking his watch he found that he had been in the air for about a half hour. Looking at his landing and finding it normal he shielded himself for impact.

CRASH!

The crater that he made on impact would have made even the Z fighters raise an eyebrow. Even more impressive was that Ranma instantly got up from it.

Looking around Ranma saw that his watch lay in pieces, various parts scattered throughout the landing sight.

Ranma scratched his head in thought, "Oh yeah! That's why I don't use a watch anymore!"

Dusting himself off, Ranma crawled out of the crater and took stock of his surroundings. From the frequent abuse of his fiancée Ranma had gotten quite familiar with the geography of Japan. It helped that he usually had an eagle eye view.

 _Hmm, this must be Juban again. Oh well, considering where she normally hits me this is quite normal._

Ranma thought back on all of the other times Akane had malleted him…

 **Flashback:**

They were loosing and Usagi knew it. They had tried everything but their tactics just weren't working, even with all of the senshi, minus Pluto, they were just managing to stay out of the way of lethal blows.

The monster, which looked vaguely humanoid, was just playing with them right now as he shrugged off the attacks of the senshi while stalking towards Usagi. Usagi covered her eyes, this time there would be no one to help them at the last second.

CRASH!

A red and black blur soared through the air and flew straight through the Youma's chest, killing it instantly. The blur continued onto the pavement making a huge crater. In the newly formed crater there was a boy with black hair

 **End Flashback:**

Ranma shuddered. He still remembered some of those girls were almost as forward as Shampoo with their affections. However that meeting was nothing compared to the other time he encountered them…

 **Flashback:**

He was heading straight towards a fairly large house and judging by the windows it was probably the bathroom.

 _Only Akane could have such dumb luck._

SMASH!

Setsuna was nearly blasted off her feet as the bathroom wall caved in from a sudden impact by a speeding martial artist. On instinct she transformed into her senshi uniform preparing an attack.

 **End Flashback:**

That woman still sent shivers up Ranma's spine when he thought about her. She addressed him in a perfectly neutral voice asking who the hell he was and why he was in her bathroom. Ranma declined to answer, rather opting for the Saotome final technique.

In later meetings she had somehow deemed him a threat to something called 'Sapphire Tokyo' or something like that and had constantly tried to kill him whenever he was malleted around Juban.

By the far the weirdest one however…

 **Flashback:**

"Mihoshi! Something has appeared on the radar!" Kiyone shouted.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"It's a projectile of some sort! Hurry, we have to move out of the way!"

However the object came in too fast for them to dodge and tore through their shields and the titanium hold of their ship landing right on the bridge.

"Its… a boy?"

 **End Flashback**

Fortunately they didn't make him get out and walk back. He had been able to hitch a ride back to the Tendo Dojo in time for dinner. However, later that evening…

 **Flashback:**

Ranma was once again on a trip to god knows where. He was currently passing over a forest.

 _Looks like a clean landing._

That thought died a slow and painful death as he saw a shrine out in the middle of the woods. Bracing himself for impact Ranma smashed into the house like a bullet. He instantly got up and dusted himself off.

Looking around he found he was in some type of lab with all manner of advanced technology.

After a few moments of staring Ranma felt another pair of eyes on the back of his head and turned to find himself being stared at by a small red headed girl.

The girl broke the silence first, "This lab is in a sub-dimensional pocket surrounded by the most potent security systems known to the universe trained to attack any un-authorized persons within this lab. How the hell did you get in here?"

 **End Flashback**

THAT woman sent him into a full body shiver. After the introductions were finished she started mumbling something about a guinea pig. Ranma quickly made his escape, feeling that he had just avoided certain doom.

Of course there were several other cases like the time she had hit him to that Hinata Inn or something like that. He never wanted to go there again.

In truth, he was starting to get really annoyed with Nerima and all of the BS that came along with it. Heck, the events earlier today proved it, his life was like a script, his destiny written out, he even had his life down to the second for christ sake.

He thought about his fiancées. Ukyo was a generally good person but she was always pressing for a more personal relationship and refusing to believe that Ranma wanted to just remain friends.

Shampoo was… Shampoo. Always up to some drug or potion, always latching on to him like a barnacle and always calling him Airen. Any affection he may have had for the girl had died when she started using underhanded tricks to try and win Ranma over.

Akane, Ranma hated to admit, was the worst of the three. Constantly abusive and constantly mistrusting and a trigger happy temper. Shampoo and Ukyo would at least sometimes give Ranma the benefit of the doubt of a compromising situation… sometimes. Akane just fell back on her old method of handling a situation, blame everything on Ranma and mallet him when he tried to put up a good aruguement.

Kodachi? Lets not go there…

 _Maybe I need a change of scenery._ He mused, _I probably cant go anywhere Nabiki cant track me to so the only answer is…_

Ranma unconsciously took a left towards a magic shop he visited occasionally when he was still searching for a cure to his curse. He had long since given up on finding anything in this shop but he still visited occasionally.

Giving a small wave to the owner he started to browse the unique magic section. His eyes lingered on a small dusty scroll with a label that read 'Unclassified and Possibly Dangerous.'

Picking it up Ranma took it to the front of the shop. He had taken several of these types of scrolls from the shop, usually identifying what they were with help from Kuh-Lon. One scroll contained a one-use holy bolt that destroyed a rouge demon that Happosai had released while another had teleported Ranma straight into the girls side of the public bathhouse.

"Just this today?" asked the manager.

"That's all Tom." Ranma replied to the wizened old man.

As Ranma was digging in his pockets the front of the store suddenly exploded in a shower of glass and wood.

"There is the threat to crystal Tokyo! Get him!"

"Looks like the outers showed up. Sorry Tom, I promise to pay you back!"

Ranma grabbed the scroll and cracked the seal and with a bright flash of light… he was gone.

A/N: My longest prologue to date, and a cliffhanger to boot. This is still going to be a Disgaea crossover, the other mentions in this story are probably going to stay as one-shots.

Remember, I really want your reviews so please drop me a line.

Cheers.


	26. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Oh wait a sec, wrong story.

A/N: Wow. I'm surprised how many reviews this story managed to pull in on the first chapter. Thank you to all of you who responded. Oh and for those of you who are curious, Disgaea is currently at Episode 7 and the Ranma series is placed 1 year after the failed wedding.

A bright flash and a temporal flux in the space time continuum (or some other scientific mumbo jumbo that no one cares about) heralded the coming of the ultimate chaos factor.

Unfortunately for said chaos factor, he appeared upside-down and landed on his head.

Ranma quickly got up and looked around, hoping no one saw him.

The landscape was barren and desolate. Ranma noted to himself that it looked a lot like the post apocalyptic world he had been transported to once, where he had met some insanely strong fighters named veggie something and carrot.

Finally Ranma spotted a sign; WELCOME TO THE NETHERWORLD PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE DEMONS 

'Okay, so I'm in hell. This cant possibly get any worse.'

Famous last words.

\--------------------------------------------------- \--------------------------------------------------------

Laharl was bored. And a bored, adolescent, demonic, teenager was not a good combination. Oh sure, he was overlord and all that but now there was nothing to do. The last piece of action he saw was at the heart of evil where he fought Mid-Boss the last time.

'If something interesting doesn't happen soon I'm gonna scream' Laharl thought to himself.

Ask and ye shall receive.

"Prince! Something interesting just happened!" Deamoness Etna shouted.

 _Bout time._

"I told you I am the OVERLORD!"

"Details, details."

Etna was a piece of work. She had red hair tied up in two pig tails along with a pair of small wings and tail that marked her as a demon. She also had a skulls head earring on one of her pointed ears and an outfit that threw every meaning of decency out the window.

"I'm not a detail," growled Laharl murderously.

"Whatever. Anyway, the dimensional gatekeeper said that there was a huge disturbance in the stellar graveyard."

That was another thing about her. Although Etna was technically his vassal he sometimes wondered who was really running the show.

"The stellar graveyard again? Probably just more space junk."

"Laharl! We should check to see if there are any survivors! They may need help."

 _Uh Oh, Flonne's in on this now._

Flonne was an angel from Celestia, the city of angels. She had been ordered to assassinate Laharl's father who had died 2 years before the order was given. To this day Laharl wondered why the Seraphim had sent **her**. It didn't seem like she could even assassinate a fly without some moral conflict.

She was an eccentric person, the perfect Angel stereotype always preaching about love and kindness saying that 'Demons can love too.' And she had stayed with Laharl to try and prove it.

Laharl had taken her on as a vassal to show her life's unpleasant realities or as he liked to put it, "Burn a true vision of horror into that empty little head of hers."

She still hadn't changed.

Laharl knew a lost cause when he saw it. Netherworld hath no fury like an angel scorned and he knew better than to argue with her. Every time he tried he always ended up loosing.

Sighing, he hopped off his throne and shouldered his broadsword, "Fine we'll go. Need something to do anyway."

Walking through the various hallways of the castle they finally came to the dimensional gate.

"Hey prince!"

Laharl looked and spotted a raggedly looking zombie, one of his fathers vassals.

"What do you want Zommie?"

"Oh I just wanted to tell you that our castle mages picked up a huge energy signature in the Stellar Graveyard. If your going there you might want to take some backup. Just FYI"

"You know, you could always help me."

"You kidding right?"

Grumbling something about stupid zombies knowing their place Laharl turned to Etna and sighed.

"Etna, we're going to need the Prinny Squad."

"Do you know where they are?" she asked.

"There's only one place that they would go."

A few minutes later Laharl, Etna, and Flonne stood outside one of the stores in the castle.

"Don't worry," said Etna in a disturbingly cute voice, "Ill get them." Shouldering her giant axe she entered the store.

BANG! CRASH! SMASH!

The front window on the store exploded in a shower of glass and three penguin like creatures flew out, slamming into the wall behind Flonne.

Etna stood in the remainder of the window with her cleaver in her hands.

"Drink coffee on your break time!" she shouted.

The prinnies immediately shook off their concussions and saluted before following Etna to the dimensional gate.

Laharl took one last look at the store before following Etna.

 _Damn Starbucks. How the hell did they convince us to open a branch down here?_

It did get worse.

Ranma had been walking for exactly one hour and already he was starting to hate this place. He had been ambushed twice by various low-level demons and he was getting hungry. The desolate landscape was devoid of any life and lacking a lunch from earlier, he was starting to get loud complaining noises from his stomach.

 _Well, looks like I'm on my own for this one. Just me against the Netherworld._

His stomach growled again.

 _Ok, us against the netherworld._

Ranma jumped to the top of another low hill, trying to get a view of his surroundings.

The place was full of junk, it looked like the Netherworld dumping ground. All of the lakes and rivers had a greenish tint to them and the trash was so compact it actually made ground you could easily walk on.

His searches of the place hadn't been completely useless however. He had found some rusty armor and weapons, some coins that looked like the local currency, and some midgets with glowing fingertips (which is a different story entirely).

All of a sudden, his nose perked up at a familiar smell. It was food.

Hunger overrode logic as Ranma instantly zeroed in on the smell and started to follow it, heedless of the danger he was approaching.

Finally as he crested the top of an enormous hill he saw two golden arches in the sky.

 _No…It cant be. There's no way there could possibly be one here!_

Printed in big white letters were the words 'McDonalds: Netherworld Branch.'

Running the last mile to McDonalds: 6.7 seconds

Knocking out every demon in line to get to the front: 4.8 seconds

Placing a gigantic order and having it served: 45.6 seconds

Eating the entire order by yourself: Priceless

There are some things that watches cant time. For everything else, there's Rolex.

Ranma sighed and put his hands on the back of his head. Now that he was fed, he had to start worrying about where he was going to stay. Except for the occasional demon he hadn't found any sign of a town or city where he could stay.

He examined the map on the table once again. He had picked it up from a small information booth in the McDonalds.

It appeared that the scroll had transported him straight in the middle of the Danger Zone of the Netherworld. If he went east he would hit Salamanders Breath, a volcano area.

If he went west he would never get out of the stellar graveyard, north would take him to the frozen land of Jotenheim while south would get him stuck in the Cave of Ordeal.

Ranma crumpled up the map and threw it in the trash.

 _What a waste of money. I already knew I was screwed over without that maps help._

And then, it happened.

Moments earlier:

Laharl and company wearily trudged through the stellar graveyard. The cleric who ran the dimensional gate had told them that she couldn't get a lock on the energy reading and had transported them as close as she could.

If demons had known about cars then Laharl would have compared this to a road trip.

Etna immediately started saying that she needed to go to the bathroom while Flonne was starting to complain about all the walking. Even the prinnies were starting to whine.

And it had only been 5 minutes.

"FINE!" Laharl shouted as Etna began to complain again, "We'll stop at this McDonalds and then you can do what you want!"

Grumbling to himself he led the way to the restaurant when just outside the door, Etna stopped.

"What now?" asked Laharl.

Etna suddenly drew her axe and the prinnies followed suit. Flonne took the bow off of her back as well.

"He's in there prince."

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know how, I just know."

Laharl drew the sword of his back, "Well then, lets introduce ourselves."

"WIND CUTTER!"

A shout was followed by a huge explosion near the front of the store. Ranma immediately got into a defensive stance and tried to survey the threat through the smoke. The next sound Ranma heard made him sweatdrop.

SMACK!

"Laharl! They make doors for a reason you know!" said a voice full of righteous feminine anger.

"Whine whine whine. Its only a McDonalds."

"That's beside the point."

A new voice joined the other two, "Focus people. We have an objective to complete."

The smoke finally cleared and both sides got a look at their opposition.

Laharl was stuned, "A human…?"

"In the…" Flonne continued.

"Netherworld?" Etna finished.

Activate Saotome standard greeting procedure 101.

Ranma scratched the back of his head, "My names Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this."

A/N: The first meeting between the two characters. You can feel the tension rising. Please remember to leave a review on your way out.

Cheers.


	27. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I'll get around to it.

A/N: Just to let you know, I'm making the demons ages about the equivalent of Ranma's age. Etna is slightly older than Laharl and Flonne is slightly younger than him.

Ranma casually chewed on a fry as he surveyed the three teens across the room. One was a she-demon he assumed to be about his age. She was radiating an aura that screamed trouble and the look she was giving him sent shivers up his spine.

The male of the group had a huge aura that almost rivaled Saffron, but it was unfocused and uncontrolled. If it came down to a fight it would be a close call.

His eyes widened as he examined the third person, it was an angel! Probably a trainee by the looks of the aura and wing size but still, what was an angel doing in the company of demons?

Getting tired of the standstill Laharl spoke up, "Well then foolish human, know now that I am the great and terrible over…"

Laharl's voice died off as Etna began to tap him on the shoulder.

"WHAT?" he shouted.

"Hey uh, prince? Can I go to the bathroom now?"

Laharl's ego deflated like a punctured balloon, "But what about…?"

He was cut off again, "Oohh! Special offer on Big Macs!" squealed Flonne before running to the counter. Etna took the chance to run off to the restroom.

Ranma heard the overlord mumble something about 'vassals' and 'pain' but he couldn't work out what he had said. Ranma's shrugged, "You were saying?"

Clearing his throat Laharl began again, "I am the great and terrible overlord Laharl!"

"Nice to meet you." Said Ranma before returning to his meal.

Flonne finished her order and took a seat across from Ranma. Laharl scratched his head, wondering why he was expecting a bigger reaction from him. Finally he sheathed his sword and joined them at the table.

"So Mr. Ranma?" asked the angel.

"Just Ranma, please. I don't think I caught your name though."

"Oh! I'm angel trainee Flonne. Its nice to meet you!"

Flonne, Ranma noted, seemed to be a younger version of Kasumi. She radiated an aura of peace and you could not help but like her.

"So," she continued, "What are you doing in the Netherworld? Didn't you know this is a dangerous place for humans?"

Ranma leaned back and put his hands behind his head, "Meh. Nothing here could be as dangerous as the situation at home. I just consider this a vacation. Come to think of it, what are you doing here? I didn't think that angels and demons were on talking terms."

"Well that's…" she began.

"A very long and painful story that I'd rather not tell." Finished Laharl.

Etna came over and sat next to Ranma, "What I'm curious about is how you got here in the first place."

Ranma explained his little trip to the magic shop and the scroll he had found there.

"Wow. What kind of an idiot would give that scroll to a magic shop?" asked Etna when he finished.

Somewhere up in heaven a certain trickster god sneezed.

"I'm kind of grateful actually," said Ranma, "I don't think any hell could be as bad as the hell on earth _they_ made my life."

"Your life was really that bad?" asked Flonne worriedly.

"It is a long and boring story that I'd rather not tell you."

The four of them talked for a long time, telling them about their home-worlds and how they came to be Laharl's vassals. Etna had served under Laharl's father until he died 2 years ago by choking on a black pretzel. By the wishes of the late king, she now served as Laharl's vassal.

Flonne had been sent by Celestia, the city of angels, to assassinate King Kircheskvoy (sp?). Unfortunately that king was Laharl's father and had already been dead for 2 years. She had become Laharl's vassal, after they had fought, in an attempt to prove that demons had feelings and could love too.

Laharl himself was another story. He had been put to sleep for two years by a poison that should have killed him. During that time his father had died and the Netherworld demons had fought for the title of overlord. In a climatic battle for overlord-ship Laharl had crushed all opposition for the throne in one fell swoop.

"So why did you guys come here anyway?" asked Ranma curiously.

"Our dimensional gatekeeper said that she detected a huge power level coming from here. We were bored so we decided to check it out." Explained Etna.

"Just how does a human have such enormous power anyway?" asked Flonne.

"I've been training in the art ever since I was 6," deadpanned Ranma. He started talking in a near emotionless voice as he always did when he talked about his trip, "The first thing he taught me was to dirty myself up and beg for money. 6 months into the trip he wrapped me up in fish sausage and threw me into a pit of starving cats in an effort to teach me the Neko Ken."

Ranma explained his story to them leaving out a few select parts. Even though they were demons there were some things that no ones stomach could handle.

Somewhere in Celestia:

"This is… unexpected." Said one voice.

"True, but if we play this the right way maybe this can help further our plans." Said a second voice.

"Still I am… concerned."

"I would not worry too much about it. They seem to be getting on very well."

"…"

"Very well then. I understand. In the meantime, Starbucks on me? I heard that they opened up a branch here."

(I think that I've beaten that gag to death now Ne?)

Back in the Netherworld:

Everyone was silent for a few minutes after Ranma had told his story. Finally Etna spoke up, "Hey Ranma, Are you sure that your father isn't a demon? Even I couldn't have thought up all those torture methods."

Flonne had a sad look on her face and a single tear went down her cheek, "Th…that's so cruel! What kind of a father would do that to his own son?"

Like always, Ranma could never stand to see a girl cry, "Hey don't worry about it. I've been over it for a long time. Besides, there ain't much he can do to me now that I'm in hell. I don't think even **he** would come here to try and take me back." Flonne seemed to cheer up a little after hearing that.

Ranma stood up and stretched, "Well, I'll be seeing you around then, hope your overlordship works out for you."

Etna on a sudden impulse grabbed Ranma's shoulder before he could leave, "Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Er… not really."

"Well then," said Flonne now smiling as she got up and placed a hand on his other shoulder, "Why don't you stay with us in the castle?"

"Well I wouldn't want to intrude or anything like that…"

He was cut off again by Etna, "Don't worry about it. The castle has been nearly empty ever since most of the late king's vassals left."

"Well…"

Ranma then fell victim to the one attack that no man had every been able to counter. Nations fell to it, worlds succumbed to it and Ranma had absolutely no defense against it.

It was the dreaded, feared and lethal PUPPY DOG EYES ATTACK!

2.5 seconds later Ranma was walking with his new friends back to the warp point where the dimensional gate was to take them back to the castle.

Laharl stood in the center of a small clearing where Ranma could feel a high magic signature.

"Scotty! Beam us up!"

A telepathic voice spoke into everyone's minds.

"Damnit Laharl! My name isn't Scotty!"

In a flash all 4 of them disappeared.

A/N: Ahh, another chapter done. In a horrible mistake I accidentally deleted all of my work hence, the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review on your way out please.


	28. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Out of Order

A/N: Maybe I'll think of something by the end of this chapter.

Laharl stood in the center of a small clearing where Ranma could feel a high magic signature.

"Scotty! Beam us up!"

A telepathic voice spoke into everyone's minds.

"Damnit Laharl! My name isn't Scotty!"

In a flash all 4 of them disappeared.

The party reappeared in a hallway and landed gently on their feet, well except Laharl who was set down none to gently on his head.

"Home sweet home." Mumbled Laharl from his position on the floor. Looking up angrily at the female cleric that was in charge of the gate.

"Laharl!" Flonne chided, "It isn't nice to tease people! Demons have feelings to you know…"

Laharl stood up in indignantly, "How many times do I have to tell you? Demons don't have feelings!"

"You know," commented Ranma offhandedly, "For someone who claims he doesn't have any feelings you sure are quick to feel angry."

"…You stay out of this."

Etna came up behind him and grabbed his arm making Ranma involuntarily shiver, "Come one Ranma these guys are gonna be at it all day. I'll give you the tour."

"But don't you think…?"

She didn't even look back at the two as she led Ranma away, "Don't worry, they never get beyond hair pulling."

"This happen often?"

"Ever since she came here."

Ranma was led out of the dark hallway and into a room filled with swords, axes, spears and all kinds of other weapons.

"The armory." Said Etna simply; "It hasn't seen much use since the kings humanoid vassals left. Come to think of it, I think you're the first human the Netherworld has seen in almost a thousand years."

Looking over the equipment Ranma saw that most of the equipment was obsolete. The swords had many cracks in them and the spears looked like their heads would break if any pressure was applied to them.

"The merchants come by about once a week to sell their wares." She explained.

Just then, Laharl came running past them and out another door with Flonne hot on his heels. Flonne had a scythe in her hand and a look on her face that would rival any demon. Ranma and Etna wisely stepped out of her way as she pursued the errant overlord.

Etna slapped a hand to her forehead, "That kid will never learn." She mumbled quietly to herself.

"What just happened?"

"He probably called her a 'flat chest' again."

'Man, I guess that comment even gets angels riled. It figures that even divinity is concerned about their figure.' Thought Ranma to himself.

Somewhere in Nerima…

"I suddenly have the urge to slap someone." Akane said out loud suddenly.

"Oh my!" said Kasumi sweetly, "I hope you don't get these urges often."

"Bweeeee!" agreed bacon butt er… I mean P-Chan.

"This is Laharl's room." Said Etna simply.

The room was dark, the only lights coming from candles. Devoid of decoration, the only thing in the room was a small coffin in the center.

"I wont be sleeping in one of those will I?"

"Nah we have guest quarters too. Unless of course you'd prefer the coffin."

"So is there anyone else in this castle besides the gatekeeper and us?"

"Oh yeah, Laharl does have a few vassals. Come on, I'll introduce you to them."

Etna led Ranma to a large room where a few people were practicing various exercises and forms. As soon as Ranma entered the training stopped. Ranma had to quickly focus his chi sight to keep himself from being blinded. Every monster there had aura's that easily dwarfed his own.

A zombie came up first, "Hmm, it looks like the prince has picked up another stray. Human this time." Despite being rotting bone and flesh the words came out perfectly.

Ranma didn't even flinch as the smell or appearance, a credit to his time in Nerima, "Ranma Saotome, and you are…"

"Zommie. One of the late kings vassals." He provided.

An animal, one-third lion, one-third dragon, and one third human approached him next. Ranma recognized him as a manticore. Ever since that one incident with the Musk Dynasty he had gone out of his way to read up on mythical beasts in case he ever fought one again.

The beast walked in a slow circle around Ranma, sniffing at him occasionally. Finally in a deep baritone voice he spoke, "This one has an inner strength about him. Not like those other fleas he has brought. Tell us mortal, have you ever been called the chaos bringer before?"

Ranma thought for a minute, "No…that would be a new one to me."

"I see then." He retreated back into line and a red dragon stepped forward. It looked more like a raptor than a real dragon. Its front claws were more like a predators and it walked on its hind legs like a human.

This time the voice was female, "Ah…I can see what the manticore means. It seems as though things are going to get interesting again."

"Well I personally don't have a problem with that." Commented another one of the monsters. This one, a huge golem, had an enormous body structure made of stone standing at least 8 feet from the ground.

"Tell me, your all the king's vassals right?" asked Ranma.

The last monster in line that hadn't introduced himself spoke up, "Technically. We do not believe that Laharl has proved himself to be a worthy king yet. He is too immature and young to assume the true position of overlord."

The one who had spoken was a ghoul in gray robes. The only part that could be seen of his body was a white face poking out of the hood.

"Until we believe him worthy of our power," the ghoul continued, "We will let him make his own way as overlord." The other creatures nodded confirmation.

Ranma shrugged, "Fair enough. Now," he looked briefly around the room, "Anyone up for a spar?"

His response was as expected. The manticore gave a low growl; the golem pounded its massive fists together while the dragon merely gave him a toothy grin. However the zombie held up his hand.

"I shall be the one to test this human."

"My name is Ranma Saotome," he provided, "And don't forget it."

The zombie only smiled, a hideous effect on his face, "Very well Ranma, prepare yourself."

All of the monsters backed to the sidelines while Ranma and Zommie got into their battle stances at opposite ends of the room.

"Watch out for his bandages," whispered Etna before giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. She then retreated to the sidelines to watch the fight.

"BEGIN!" growled the manticore, and the fight was on.

For a moment no one moved, then suddenly at an unseen single both fighters rushed eachother. Zommie moved at a surprising speed for a rotting corpse and both fighters met in the center.

Ranma started with a few basic punches and kicks to test his opponent's defense and was surprised when Zommie merely stood there and took them. His hits landed on the zombie with little effect.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," he commented before beginning his attack. The bandages around his arms unfurled and lashed out at him with lightning speed much like Kodachi's ribbon attack. Fortunately Ranma had been expecting an attack like that and escaped with a few shaved hairs.

Dancing back out of range Ranma summoned his inner energies and let his aura spring up about him, coating his hands and feet with his confidence. He moved in again.

This time Zommie was ready. He dodged the kick and ducked under the punch countering with his own combo. Ranma flipped over his head and executed a midair kick, using the undead's body as a springboard to get some room.

"That was better," said Zommie, "Now lets up the ante!"

Ranma could immediately tell that the Zombie had released more of his demonic energy as the zombie was now glowing with a faint black aura.

"Zombie Gatling Gun!" he cried out as Ranma approached him again.

There was a common misconception about the move. Anyone who heard it for the first time would think that the zombie was using bullets. This was not so however. The Zombie Gatling Gun is actually hundreds of small ki blasts thrown at an extremely rapid rate from ones fingertips, thus creating the 'machine gun like' effect.

Ranma barely had time to raise his aura before the blasts impacted him, sending him crashing to the floor. Unfortunately Zommie did not give Ranma time to recover but brought his bandages back into play, forcing Ranma to perform a series of rolls to get back to his feet.

"Moko Takabisha!" The blue-gold blast of confidence blasted towards the undead creature who simply ducked. Too bad he wasn't prepared for the follow up.

"Rapid Fire!" Suddenly Zommie found himself on the receiving end of his own technique as several smaller lion shots impacted his body. He was in pain for a few brief seconds but then his regeneration powers kicked in.

"So, you're a fast healer huh?" commented Ranma, "Great. That means I wont have to hold back!"

"Then neither will I!"

Zommie took in a deep breath and let loose a cloud of poison, but non-lethal, gas. At most it would have paralyzed him. What he did not consider was that Ranma had been on the receiving end of countless poisons from Akane and Kodachi so he had built quite a resistance to it.

Coughing slightly Ranma extended his senses to find the zombie. While Zommie didn't have a ki signature he was giving off power and that was enough to find where he was amidst the gas.

Finally sensing his power, Ranma attacked the undead creature.

Zommie was feeling pain, that in itself was unusual seeing as how he was undead and had no nerves. Then he realized that the human was somehow attacking his ki flows directly. Seeing as how the gas was doing more harm that good he dissipated it. This turned out to be a mistake.

Just as the cloud disappeared Zommie heard a shout, "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

Ranma watched with satisfaction as the Zombie reeled back from the blow, impacting one of the walls. Breathing heavily he panted, "Did I get him?"

"Oh you got me alright."

The zombie was still standing, his wounds regenerating before Ranma's eyes.

"No way! There's no way you could just shake off something like that!"

"I didn't. Do you have any idea how hard it was to regenerate that wound?"

Ranma suddenly seemed to regain his confidence, "So you aren't invincible after all. That's good."

"Consider yourself honored that you even got to see this move. ZOMBIE SWARM!"

There was only a bright flash of light and then all traces of Zommie disappeared, ki signature and all. Ranma only sensed the ki for a second before hundreds of replicas of Zommie burst from the ground.

As one they all jumped at Ranma.

He tried to defend himself, he really did. However once one of the zombies hit him once, it disappeared spreading its power among the remaining images. Ranma found himself on the receiving end of hundreds of blows, progressively more powerful, until finally only one was remaining.

The last strike sent him tumbling to his back.

From his position on the floor Ranma looked up at Zommie with respect, "That was…some tech…nique." His breathing was a bit labored, the multiple injuries he had sustained not helping much.

"It was a revised technique of the original. The original technique involved replicating myself into several hundred weak duplicates that all attacked in a group. The revised allowed me to dispel my replicas right after they hit you once, allowing them to spread out their power over the others."

"That's all fine and dandy but I really think that he needs some medical attention right now." Etna had stepped up after the fighting had finished and was helping Ranma to his feet.

"You did well Ranma," the Zombie said as Ranma was carried away by Etna, "Give it a couple more years and you might be able to beat me."

Zommie waited until Ranma was out of the room before he fell to his knees in sheer exhaustion.

"Looks like he was a little tougher than you thought." Commented the female dragon.

"…"

"Admit it. He was a good fighter."

"…"

"You know I'm right."

"…Sigh. All right I admit it. He was a very good challenge."

"See? Told you so."

"Rub it in why don't you?"

"See? Told you so."

"…Shut up."

"That wasn't too shabby." Commented Etna as she supported Ranma on his way to the hospital.

Ranma, who was trying his hardest not to notice how close his hand was to the demon's cleavage, responded quickly, "I lost. How was that impressive?"

"Oh come on. Those demons were the most loyal servants of Kircheskvoy himself. You know, the ruler of the Netherworld? Not even Laharl can take them on. Think about it."

Ranma thought about it, and they walked in silence a little longer.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"We have a little hospital set up in the castle for situations like these. They are some of the few that haven't disbanded because their loyalty to the late king was so strong. Personally I think the doc's just a workaholic."

"So what's his name?"

"Dr. Paine. He works there with his assistants Dr. Deth, Nurse Hurt, and Ms. Coffin."

'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?' Ranma thought to no one in particular.

A/N: And you thought I was never going to update. So there! I came up with a new years resolution 30 days ago to update at least 3 fanfics a month, and this is number three so Boo Yah.

Anyway, I admit this chapter wasn't as good as some of the others but I needed to show just where Ranma stood in the pecking order here. Anyway, I don't plan to abandon any of my stories and expect an update soon all you SSBR fans.


	29. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I swear to god, if you don't get that lawyer with the telescope away from my house…

The fourth installment of Ranma: Hour of Chaos is here and ready to go. A thanks goes to Douglas K for Kuno's line.

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"So Etna, I was wondering. You said this was hell right?"

"Yeah."

"So…if I'm in hell, shouldn't I be dead or something like that?"

Etna and Ranma were walking through the corridors of the overlord's castle to reach the infirmary. Despite Ranma's insistence that he was fine and could walk on his own, Etna was supporting him with her arm around his waist.

"Well, this isn't exactly the 'hell' your thinking of. This place is more of a…'purgatory' as you humans would put it."

"Oh." There was a bit of an awkward silence for a few seconds, "What's purgatory?"

Face faulting would have been hazardous with her passenger so she opted for a sweat-drop instead.

"Hmm…let me put it this way. Generally, good people go to the place called 'heaven' while bad people go to the place called 'hell.' Of course Hild-sama and Kami-sama prefer Asgard and Nefilem, but that's a different story entirely."

(A/N: Not to mention the makings of one hell of a confusing plot)

"Those two places co-exist with earth, but the Netherworld and Celestia are a world away. Whenever a soul is…in-balance…their souls get sent here and they take on the bodies of prinnies to pay off their debts and ascend to heaven."

"Well, I don't really get it but hey, at least I'm not dead!"

Etna sighed and put her hand on her forehead.

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"So what do you think Laharl?" asked the Wraith.

The young (in demon terms) overlord looked into the scrying pool the Wraith had made for a second more before sitting back on his throne.

"He could prove to be a worthy vassal. Perhaps he would consider the honor of joining me. He's not a bad fighter for a human."

"Honor my ass," commented the dragon standing beside Laharl, "The last two 'vassals' who joined you had to be beaten within an inch of their lives."

"Shut up!"

"Even so, I am sure that with his support, you could readily establish yourself as a successful overlord."

"Or you could always get off your lazy ass and help me," countered Laharl.

"That would require effort on my part that I'm not willing to give."

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On a different level of existence, a very different argument was occurring. This one, between the warring factions of Nerima.

"What do you mean he's gone?" shouted Ukyo.

"Exactly what it sounds like." Responded Nabiki, "He's not here, gone away, can't be found, vanished, disappeared, do I really need to continue?"

"Tell me what you know then. I know you know something."

"Take a seat in the dinning room then. Everyone else should be here shortly." And I'll have to tell Kasumi to put sedatives in the tea to control this lot.

A few minutes later…

'It's sad really,' Nabiki thought to herself as she looked at the all too familiar sight of Ranma's enemies grouped around the table, 'Where would these people find personalities of their own if they didn't have Ranma to help shape them? Come to think of it, if Ranma really did disappear, what would they do?'

However, Nabiki wasn't one to let such petty things as decency get in the way of her money schemes.

Pocketing her earned/extorted money, Nabiki began to tell the crowd about what her followers had observed the day he had disappeared.

The surprise came in the from of Colonge.

"Do you happen to be talking about this scroll?" The wizened mummy drew a bound and sealed scroll from her sleeve.

Nabiki took a look at it. The seal that bound it was the exact same one that her observer had told her about. A blood red pentagram with a smaller star in the center.

"So…what does it mean?"

Colonge sighed and put the scroll in the folds of her robes, "This scroll was, or rather is, a gateway to a place called the netherworld."

"You mean hell?"

"No. I mean the netherworld. They are two entirely different places."

"Really? How so?"

"If you had been following the story you'd know, but that's not important right now. The thing is, the netherworld is a dwelling place for many powerful demons, even more powerful than I."

This made even the most hotheaded people cool down and think for a bit.

'Damn you Saotome,' Ryoga thought silently to himself, 'Not only do you run off from a man to man fight, but now you've gone and stole my best line! I cant say, "because of you I've seen hell" anymore because you're there now!'

'Foul sorcerer! Even from the depths of hell I shall banish your evil!' Kuno paused, 'Hmm, that didn't sound right…'

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Despite their names, the doctors were very professional. Unfortunately their practice didn't do very well because of their names in the first place, until King Kircheskvoy had taken them in and let them set up their station. In honor of the king's memory, they chose to stick by the prince.

Another thing of interest he had noticed was the place called the item world. Every time a person made a weapon or piece of art, they imprinted a bit of their soul onto their work. The item world, as it was nicknamed, let you do battle with the soul in a physical form. If you defeated it, then the item would be bonded to you, and no one else could use it.

There were other varying factors as well. His shirt for instance, was mass-produced and machine made having absolutely no soul in it. However, if you were to take a hand made sword, such as a blade from the legendary Masamune himself, you would be facing an enemy with near god-like attributes.

This was all thanks to the sorceress Eleanor. At an early age, she had begun to smith weapons and armor. She found later that she had the ability to communicate with items and the proverbial 'souls' that resided within them. Kircheskvoy had taken an interest in her and she later became his vassal. She also chose to stick with the prince in memory of his father.

"So," Ranma had asked, "If king Kirkcheck…whatever, was so great, how did he die?"

"Hmm, oh he choked on a black pretzel." Said Etna simply.

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

'That's pathetic,' thought Ranma silently to himself, 'But then again, if I hadn't gotten out of that hellhole, Akane's cooking probably would have done me in.'

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Somewhere up on earth, midguard, or whatever name you want to use for it, a certain tomboy sneezed.

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"Hey Etna, you know the portal that transported us here?"

"You mean the dimensional gate? What about it?"

"Can it transport people anywhere?"

"As long as the gatekeeper has the coordinates."

"Could it get me back to earth?"

Etna smiled to herself as she responded, "To do that you'd have to petition to the dark assembly, made up of some of the Netherworld's strongest demons. And those conservatives haven't opened up that route in 2000 years."

Ranma wasn't discouraged though, "So what do I need to do?"

'He's a tough one,' thought Etna, 'Time to bring out the big guns.'

"Just convince a horde of demons who are more powerful than the ones you fought, to open up a portal to the human world when they all revel in isolation."

"And how would I do that?"

"Bribery."

Ranma paled at this. Bribery and extortion were Nabiki's area of expertise, not his. Not to mention he only had about 35 yen in his pocket, and he didn't even know what type of currency these demons used.

"Is there any other way?"

"Well, you could challenge them to mortal combat, but you'd be hopelessly outnumbered."

"Damn. Looks like I'm stuck here for now then. Although it's probably for the best. At least I'm away from Nerima."

"Exactly!" Laharl stood in the hall, his cape flying behind him in an unknown wind, his sword drawn and ready for action, "And now that you've realized just how hopeless your situation is, I have a deal for you."

Ranma casually brushed Etna's arm away and got into a deceptive fighting stance, making it look like he wasn't ready for a fight, but was secretly geared for almost anything.

"And what is this deal?"

"Simple. You become my vassal, and I give you room and board at the castle, along with my protection. In return, you serve me and help me establish my position as overlord."

The thought rolled around in Ranma's mind for a bit, considering the pros and cons. He was technically a guest here and they could boot him out any time if he didn't accept the offer. On the other hand, servitude to a demon could mean a whole host of things he probably didn't want to get involved with.

Then there were the demons Laharl and Etna. The kid-overlord claimed he was nearly 1200 years old but he acted like a 12 year-old sometimes. His power-level though, was nearly as high as his own. Etna was more like a teenager though. She claimed to be nearly 1400 years old, but she acted like a girl who just got out of puberty. As far as Ranma could tell, one demon year was about equal to a thousand human years.

There was also the dark council to deal with. If he wanted to get back home, he needed to win them over, and having the overlord on his side would be a good start…

"Alright, I accept."

"Y…you do?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously? No fighting, no deals, no blackmail or strings attached?"

"Nah. Not my area. My names Ranma, vassal to the kid-overlord Laharl." He held out his hand. Laharl took it.

"Welcome to the overlords castle."

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Etna's Diary:

 _My memories are slowly coming back to me, now that the vampire Madreas has been defeated. But my memories are a thing of the past. The future is moving on and is bringing new surprises. Today, for instance, the first human in over 1000 years has entered the Netherworld. Not to mention he's strong and good-looking too._

 _Something seems familiar about him; though I cant quite place my finger on it. Perhaps my returning memories will clue me in as to who this person is._

 _Another thing, I find myself strangely attracted to this man as well. I know its silly. Humans like him barely have a lifespan of a hundred years or so, a relationship would never work between us, but I can still dream_ _Perhaps a short-term relationship would work…_

 _He's also incredibly shy. Even when I give out a minor suggestion he starts sweating and changes the subject, so I might have to move a little more slowly with him. Not that I've ever really been in a relationship before. He hinted at some crazy stuff back on earth about all these females chasing after him but he didn't elaborate. If half of what he told us is true, I cant believe he's still a virgin. Demons have a knack for smelling stuff like that out._

 _The only downside I can see to him is that he's a little dull. Right after taking a spectacular loss to one of the late kings servants, he was up and ready to go fight even more powerful demons almost an hour later. He's either really brave or really clueless. Oh well, he'll learn eventually, or die in the process._

Etna sighed and closed her diary. It was amazing how much writing your thoughts out put things into perspective. Just as she was about to leave her secret hiding place, something caught her eye. There was a piece of paper sticking out between the pages of her diary.

Hesitantly, she pulled it out. The first thing that caught her eye was two signatures at the bottom. The first belonged to King Kircheskvoy; the second belonged to someone named Genma Saotome.

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Three guesses as to what the contract is about, and the first two don't count.

Please leave a review on the way out.


	30. Ranma: Hour of Chaos: Chapter 6

A/N: Back in action. Need I say more?

* * *

Adonis sighed as he gazed at the Overlords castle for what seemed like the millionth time. While Laharl didn't know it himself, his castle was nearly impregnable due to the defenses the late king had put around it. The kid overlord in all his obliviousness probably never even wondered why no one had attacked his home in the two years he had been asleep either.

The truth was, the ex-overlord had spun some of the mightiest protection spells of his time around the castle which endured even after his passing. Anyone trying to teleport in would hit a rubber like wall and be bounced back. There was no way to approach the castle on foot either, since it had neither bridge nor walkway and was surrounded by a moat of lava. Although this also meant no one could get out on foot, they hardly needed to since Laharl now held a dimensional gatekeeper.

Furthermore, dimensional gatekeepers were a pain in the ass to get. Firstly, one had to get explicit permission from the high judge of the dark assembly. Second, you had to find one…a good one. Get a bad one and you might just find yourself teleported into a mountain. Finally, you had to keep their wallets full, and they had BIG wallets.

He had never actually met King Kircheskvoy, but considering he had an excellent gatekeeper swear fealty to him even in death, he must have been one hell of a ruler…no pun intended.

For right now though, he needed to find another way to get the kid overlord outside his castle to check up on the new arrival.

* * *

"Ranma! Clean my shorts!"

"Already done."

"Saotome! Make my breakfast!"

"Ready for you in the kitchen."

"Wake up the vassals?"

"Etna took care of them."

"Morning coffee?"

Ranma produced the plastic coffee cup and handed it to him. "Black. No sugar. Lot's of cream."

Laharl took a long drink. "Ah, that hits the spot. So have you cleaned the castle?"

"Swept, dusted, and polished."

"Weapons and armor?"

The martial artist produced a cape and sword from behind his back and handed them to him. "Just finished while we were talking."

"...You know you're not that fun to boss around.."

Ranma shrugged. "Sorry," he said unconvincingly.

"How did you even know to do all that stuff anyways?" he asked, slightly bewildered. "You've been my vassal for less than a day!"

The martial artist pulled a sheet of paper from his sleeve. "Etna gave me a list of the top twenty things that you're most likely going to ask me to do. I took the liberty of doing them all while I was doing my morning routine. It was decent training."

"Way to take all the fun out of it," he grumbled to himself. "So, are you ready to be reincarnated today?"

Ranma blinked. "Rein-what?"

"Reincarnation of course. Did you think I'd let you stay a weak human while being _my_ vassal?"

"Would it greatly surprise you if I just said yes?" asked Ranma wearily.

"Of course not! That's why I prepared a contingency plan." Laharl brandished the sword that was nearly as big as his body. "If you can defeat me in combat, I'll acknowledge your fighting skill and allow you to chose your new form."

"And if you win?"

The kid overlord smirked. "I'll choose what you reincarnate into."

"...That doesn't sound like a very fair-"

"Demon. Don't care." He was cut off suddenly as Laharl charged, forcing him to dodge several quick strikes of his blade.

"Do you *dodge* really think *dodge* we should *dodge* be doing this inside?" Sidestepping a chop, Ranma moved inside the demon's guard and flicked him on the forehead, sending him staggering back a step.

The query gave the demon pause. "Huh. Well, I guess I wouldn't want to destroy this castle during a friendly fight."

 _'Friendly huh? Riiiiight.'_

Laharl suddenly snapped his fingers. "I know exactly where we can settle this. Meet me at the dimensional gate in twenty minutes." The kid overlord's cape twined around his sword, depositing the blade into subspace before walking off.

"Well, this is going to be fun." The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

"It could be worse," said a voice from his left. The martial artist turned to see Etna emerge from her room, a spear strapped to her back. "He could have just ordered you to do it. You are his vassal after all."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't he?"

Etna shrugged. "Think of it as an illusion of free will. Either that or he's just been looking for a chance to fight you."

"Why didn't he just fight me here?"

Etna was silent for a minute. "You ever watch Dragon Ball Z?"

"Tried to. Took too long to get to the action though, and took too long showing the action."

"Well let's just say that we're trying to preserve what's left of this run down castle."

"Fair enough. So what's our battleground then."

"Tutorial map number one."

"Huh?"

"Training ground number one," she corrected quickly. "It's where we go to beat each other up. Very therapeutic for when I need to put the prinnies in line. Did you know they blow up if you throw them hard enough?"

Ranma filed that little tidbit away for future use. "No. Can they do this multiple time or is your employee turnover rate even worse than McDonalds?"

"We have extensive health coverage," provided Etna simply. "As long as your soul doesn't get torn from your body, we can probably put you back together, so don't worry about Laharl accidentally killing you or anything."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better." An anime sweatdrop had appeared on his head.

"Good to know," the demon responded cheerfully. "Did you want to pick up a weapon or are you cocky as well as confident?"

"I prefer to think of it as having faith in my abilities," he replied nonchalant.

"Suit yourself. Not like I'm footing the medical bill."

"Good thing too," he muttered under his breath. I get the feeling you'd let me rot for a bit to save money."

"What was that?"

"I said good thing too. Resurrection must cost a lot of money. We have time to pick up some coffee first?"

"So, this is tutorial map number one huh? Looks pretty plain."

And indeed it did. The surrounding land was simply a grassy plain with a few trees as its only distinguishing feature. Perfect for a fight with overly destructive attacks flying around. Etna was several feet off to the side, using one of her prinnies as an improvised chair, the other two holding a food and drink tray.

"We renamed this training map one after we got past the first chapter," corrected Laharl. "You only ever need a tutorial once. But that's beside the point." His cape twined around his arm as he slowly drew his sword out of a subspace pocket. Near the bottom of the soft incline, Ranma watched with interest as he sipped on his coffee.

"Are you ready to prove yourself to your lord and master?" he shouted dramatically.

"Can I finish my coffee first?" the martial artist asked politely. "It tastes disgusting when its cold."

"Then it's a good thing this will be over quickly!" The shout was a prelude to his attack. Brandishing his sword, he ran at the martial artist, intent on finishing him off in a single blow. Unfortunately, even while drinking coffee, Ranma's dodging skill was top notch.

"You're not -swing- taking this -swing- seriously -swing- are you?"

"Sure I am -dodge- I think it's important -dodge- to give my enemy -dodge- my full attention." Jumping away from a horizontal slash, Ranma finished off the drink in midair before tossing the cup to Etna. "That's why I wanted to finish first. Hold that will you? I don't like littering," he said aside to Etna. The demon merely incinerated it in her hand.

"WIND BLADE!"

He turned his attention back to the fight just in time to sidestep a large blade of energy that left a scar in the ground.

"Are your ready to pay attention now?" asked Laharl evilly. He raised his sword above his head again, the blade giving off a white glow. "WIND BLADE!"

For a moment it seemed as though the blade had detached from the sword and was hurtling towards him, but it was simply the buildup of energy around the sword taking form and being released. With little thought, he sidestepped the blade, paying little attention to the destruction left in its wake.

"Pretty impressive," said Ranma honestly as he walked forward, hands in his pockets. "But can you do that without your sword?"

"Wha-" Even before he had started speaking, Ranma had closed the distance between them, throwing several light kicks, forcing the demon kid backwards. "You're pretty fast for a human," complimented Laharl, "But don't think I'm a pushover."

As if a switch was flipped, Laharl suddenly went on the offensive with increased speed, forcing Ranma to dodge more and attack less. The trade went back and forth for a few seconds before it looked like Laharl was about to land a decisive hit. Suddenly, Ranma's left hand darted out of his pocket and caught the blade harmlessly between his fingers. Taking advantage of the overlord's surprise, Ranma snap kicked the kid's wrist, forcing him to let go of the blade.

"So tell me," said the martial artist smugly, the overlord's blade over one shoulder. "Can you use those fancy sword techniques without your sword."

Laharl glared at him. "No, but I can do this." Back-flipping away from Ranma, the kid overlord took on a look of concentration. "RAAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

As if someone had just let the top off of a shaken bottle, several balls of destructive energy flew from his small form, stopping suddenly to hover in the air. Ranma, hand still in his pocket, simply stared at the massive amount of energy on display.

"OVERLORD'S WRATH!" With a thrust of his hand, Laharl sent all the energy flying towards the martial artist.

"Oh shi-" BOOM!

A huge cloud of dust was thrown up, obscuring the martial artist from view.

"Ahahahahaha!" Laharl crossed his arms as he surveyed the destruction in front of him. "Ready to accept your reincarnation?"

In response, a small rock flew out of the dust, hitting Laharl right between the eyes. This was immediately followed by more small rocks, followed by medium sized rocks, and ending with a huge boulder, forcing Laharl to desperately dodge out of the way. A few seconds later, a dusty and coughing Ranma emerged from the crater, covered in dirt but otherwise fine.

"How the hell did you dodge that?" asked Etna from the sidelines.

"Hid underground," he said simply. "Breaking point technique is a godsend."

Laharl smirked. "You're quick, I'll give you that. But how long can you hold out? RAAA-ugh!" Laharl's eyes widened as a fist impacted his stomach. A follow-up roundhouse knocked him several feet away.

"Pssh. Like I'd really let you do that again. What do you think this is, Dragonball Z?"

Laharl grabbed his sword as he got back to his feet. "Alright human, you've made your case. You don't have to get reincarnated."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? No tricks or anything? Even though your a demon? I can really trust you?" The sarcasm was thick in his voice.

"Sure you can." The grin on the kid-overlord's face told a different story. "You are my vassal after all."

"Oh goody. I guess that means I can turn my back and walk away from the battlefield and not be worried about someone trying to hit me in the back." As if narrating himself, he did just that, turning his back and walking towards the dimensional gate.

Etna face-palmed. She was having a hard time trying to decide who was being more stupid at this point.

Sure enough, as soon as his back was turned, Laharl unleashed another wind-blade, headed straight for Ranma's back. Without even turning around, Ranma took a small step to the side, as if not even noticing the gigantic release of energy.

"Hey look! A fifty yen piece." Ranma bent towards the ground as another blade of energy passed over where his head had been a second ago.

"Grrrr...Quit messing with me!" Shouted Laharl indignantly.

"What, you actually thought I'd fall for a trick that stupid? What do you think this is, Ranma one half?" He ducked reflexively as Etna threw a cup at him from the sidelines.

"No! It's Disgaea! Now quit breaking the fourth wall!"

Ranma rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry." He turned his attention back to the kid-overlord who was now seething in rage. "Now where were we?"

Laharl began attacking in a rage, the power level easily surpassing Ryoga, but the skill barely a tenth of what his rivals was. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty boring fight, at least when compared to Laharl's father's minions who fought with both skill and power. Sidestepping another wild sword slash, Ranma stepped into his guard and flicked him on the forehead, sending him staggering back a few steps.

"Look, can we stop this before someone has to pay a hefty medical bill? If I beat you up Etna says it's going to come out of my paycheck. I really don't want that."

If anything, it only served to infuriate the kid-overlord even more than before. The sword dropped from his fingers, laying useless at his side as an aura of pure anger and power manifested around him. "STOP TOYING WITH ME!"

His body began to lift off the ground and the landscape began to show the signs of heat as the few trees in the area began loosing their leaves and the grass began taking on a shade of black. Even Ranma was feeling the heat of his aura and was forced back a couple of steps.

Quickly, the martial artist ran through his options. A Hiryu Shoten Ha might have been the best option, but he didn't really think unleashing a tornado on his employer (he refused to think of him as a lord and master) would go over well in the end. He could try to fight through the heat, but he rather liked his clothes and hadn't been able to buy any new ones in the netherworld yet. Hiding underground again was an option, but at the rate the kid was powering up, he'd probably just unleash a blast powerful enough to reach him no matter how deep he dug. Running was looking like a better and better idea, but that would just be delaying the problem. Then, he spotted Etna.

 _'That just might work,'_ he thought evilly.

Etna nearly toppled off her impromptu stool when Ranma suddenly materialized beside her. "Sorry but I need to borrow your vassals for a bit." The prinnies only had a second to look terrified before Ranma had scooped them up, stealing Etna's seat in the process. With an arm to make a major league pitcher jealous, he threw the first two prinnies towards the prince, making them explode on contact. The explosions only seemed to annoy him though as his aura continued to grow bigger.

"Have to do something special for this one," he said morbidly, unmindful of the terror stricken look on the last ones face.

Grabbing the whimpering penguin's head, he forced it down into the body, collapsing the thing into a ball shape. "Stay just like that," said Ranma. Before the prinny could nod in agreement, Ranma had already tossed him into the air.

"Saotome Anything Goes School of Martial Arts Super Secret Improvised Final Attack!"

A huge beam of energy came from the demon, but Ranma had already jumped into the air in a slow back-flip, timing the apex of the flip to the thrown prinny's decent. In an inhuman feat of timing, his foot connected with the ball like prinny, just as he was completing the back-flip.

"SPHERE SHOT!" WHAM!

"DOOOOOOOOOOOD!"

KA-BOOM!

"So why do I have to carry him again?" complained Ranma as he shouldered the unconscious overlord on their trek back to the dimensional gate.

"Because you knocked him out," she said simply.

"Well one of us were going to get knocked out from this," he complained further. "Aren't you like his most trusted vassal or something?"

The girl demon raised an eyebrow. "Trust? I don't think you've learned quite how things work around here."

"Gee, I'm just being showered with comfortable thoughts today. Should I start sleeping with one eye open or should I just fight you now and save us both the sleep?"

"Aww, he has a sense of humor," she mocked. "Tell you what, you just drag his royal butt back to the dimensional gate and I'll let you get all the sleep you need."

"Whatever. Not like you'd succeed anyways." Nevertheless, he continued carrying the sleeping prince as they trekked back through the gate. As they stepped through, they were greeted by Dr. Deth and his nurse Ms. Coffin.

"You know, I honestly expected you to come back through in a near-death state or something," said the medical professional adjusting his glasses.

"Sorry to disappoint," said Ranma nonchalantly.

"He'll probably wake up in an hour or two but I'll give him a checkup all the same." Gratefully, he expelled his burden, stretching the kinks out of his muscles.

"That kid's heavier than he looks," he observed as the doctors carried him off.

"You do know he's older than you right?"

"Yeah well mentally he's the equivalent of a little brat." Etna shrugged, unable to disagree.

"Welcome back you two," said an overly cheerful voice. Ranma turned from his conversation to see Flonne waiting for them, staff in hand. "Oh, Laharl lost? That's surprising."

"Lots of power, little skill. Seems to be the standard around here. You'd think that no one around has learned to dodge."

"Maybe it's more like Dragon Ball Z then you think," mumbled Etna under her breath.

"Hey, let's not beat that joke to death now," cautioned Ranma. "But yeah, there's a lot more you can do with a sword other than swinging it around like a maniac and unleashing high powered energy blasts."

"Can you use a sword Mr. Ranma?" asked Flonne politely.

"Not well, but I know what not to do with a sword, and I'm the conscious one right now."

All of a sudden, a loud banging sounded from the infirmary. "Fool! I have not yet begun to fight!" CLANG!

Dr. Deth emerged a second later. "The patient has been sedated for now. He'll be fine in a couple hours."

"Dr. Deth?" One of the nurses emerged from behind the curtain holding up a washtub bent at an odd angle. "What would you like me to do with this?"

"Recycle it please. Wouldn't want it to go to waste."

"So tell me, do I get my own room here or do I have to stand around and look intimidating like everyone else in this castle? Seriously, I don't think they've moved once since I fought with Zommie."

"They're very good at sleeping on their feet," complimented Flonne as she led him down one of the many stone corridors.

"Don't worry, you'll learn quickly," said Etna humorously from behind. Ranma cast her a sidelong glance. "I'm just kidding. There's special quarters for vassals. They're still empty though, since you're the only vassal he currently has."

"What about you?"

Etna smirked. "I like to make him think that I'm his vassal."

"Flonne?"

"I'm just here to teach him about the joys and wonders of the power of love!" A fire had sprung in her eyes at the recitation of her mission.

Ranma sweatdropped. "Uh...yeah. Hope that works out well for you."

Opening a large wooden double-door, Ranma entered a large empty room that might have easily stretched the length of the castle with several bunk beds lining the walls.

"I suppose this place will fill up once the prince decides to stop being lazy," she commented offhandedly. "But hey, you've got a bigger room than I do. Would you like a top bunk or a bottom bunk?"

Walking over to one of the bunks, Ranma karate-chopped the support poles in half before removing the entire frame from the bed. Tossing the top part of the bunk aside, he flopped down on the now single bunk-bed. "I don't like people sleeping close to me," he said in explanation.

"Wow! He's like a real ninja!" The admiration in Flonne's voice was clear.

The demoness rolled her eyes. "Pssh. Showoff. Come on Flonne, let's go mock Laharl while the nurses poke and prod him."

"Okay!" Her voice was eerily cheerful.

"These people are all insane," muttered the martial artist under his breath. "Still, it's better than Nerima. Of course, it'd have to get pretty bad before I start missing Nerima. Like being stuck in a Sailor Moon universe, or a Dragon Ball-" THUNK!

Ranma blinked as a can came seemingly out of nowhere and bonked him on the head. "Huh? Where the heck did that come from? And why do people keep throwing cans at me?"

"Hey Vegeta? I don't think that's the right way to play kick the can."

"Oh shut up Kakarot. You only wish you could kick cans through dimensional time and space and plot holes."

"Why would I wish for that? What use could it possibly be?"

"You'd be surprised," he said mysteriously.

A/N: -cough- -cough- Man is there a bit of dust on this baby. I hope everyone takes this as an offering of my continued existence. Reviews are appreciated, criticism even more. Flames will probably end up on one of my discussion forums somewhere to be analyzed and dissected.

As a shameless plug, anyone who has a COMPLETE Rosario + Vampire or Haruhi Suzumiya fanfic can receive a review from me on my specialized forum. Check out my profile for more information.


	31. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Prologue

Author's Forward: My first ever real fanfic. I'd be nostalgic if I weren't so embarrassed about it nowadays. The problems with it are almost too numerous to name. Lloyd and Ranma are redundant characters, I wasn't really doing anything with the concept beyond following the beats of the game with Ranma in the party, and I had no idea where I was going with this...beyond the fact that I was trying to pair up Ranma and Sheena.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I do not own Tales of Symphonia and I do not own Oh My Goddess. They all belong to their respectful owners and whoever they sold the rights to so quit stalking me.

A/N: This is a revision of the first chapter.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia

Prologue

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The guide watched as yet more people fought over Jusenkyo. As usual, he had tried to warn them of the danger, but of course they never listened. He sometimes wondered weather that was part of the curse, not listening to the guide that is. They never did, until one of them fell in the pools.

At the moment he was watching as a youth with black hair tied back into a pigtail fight an overweight man with a bandana on his head that was apparently his father. They had been going for half and hour at least, and by the looks of it, they weren't going to stop soon.

They moved with a grace that defied natural physics and seemingly broke the laws of gravity with ease. It was beautiful, but sad, as there was always the inevitable looser at the end. Then again, anyone who gambled with the springs always lost. He had seen it countless times before and this time was no different.

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Ranma was in top form. Maybe it was something in the air, or maybe it was the general magic in the area but he was fighting better then he had in weeks. The lack of food was nothing to him as he mercilessly laid into his father.

Genma was desperately trying to put up a defense but all hope of that was beaten down by his son's fury. One kick slipped past his defenses and sent him spiraling towards a far off pool.

"Hey pop, what's the matter? Ya done already?"

The pools bubbles were all that answered. Suddenly a black and white blur rose from the spring and landed gracefully on one of the bamboo polls.

"What the hell is that?" The creature that had replaced his father was unmistakably a…panda.

"Oh too bad." Said the guide pulling out his signs from who knows where. "Customer fall in Shonmaoniichuan spring of drown panda. Very tragic story of panda that fall in spring 1500 year ago."

"Hey buddy you didn't say anything about that!"

Unfortunately, Genma took this opportunity to jump over to his son and send him flying towards another of the pools.

By luck and chance that only Ranma could achieve, this particular pool that he was heading to, was in use by a certain goddess. The girl in white got out of the pool and cursed silently to herself.

"How the heck did I end up here?" she thought to herself, "I think my transport mediums' got a bug in it."

It was at this moment that a certain pig tailed martial artist fell through the still open portal in the water and was lost from view.

"What in the heaven?" she ran over to the side of the pool but it was too late. The portal had already closed.

11111111111111111111

The group of Desians were on the final leg of their patrol when a bright flash of light illuminated the forest, so bright that they had to blink to get the spots from their eyes.

"What on earth was that? The light of the oracle isn't supposed to be revealed for a time yet."

"Do you think we should check it out?" asked one.

"We are to patrol this section of the forest. That means scouting out and reporting all disturbances." Interrupted the captain.

"Scouting. Not dieing. I don't get paid enough as it is!"

"If you don't get moving then your not getting paid at all!"

After a few more complaints, which were forcefully put down by the commander, they made their way to the clearing in the forest.

However it was not a powerful sorcerer that they found, nor their death. In the clearing was a naked boy no older than 16 years of age.

"Do you think he's from Iselia?"

"Lying naked in the middle of the forest? I doubt it. Cover him!"

Two of the Desians produced a blanket and covered his lower body, "He doesn't contain an exsphere, so he didn't come from the ranch either."

"Then no ones going to miss him. You two!" the captain pointed to two of his following guards, "Carry him back to the ranch and have lord Forcycstus look him over."

"Right away sir."

 **To Be Continued…**

A/N: All C&C will be greatly appreciated. Flames will be used to feed my fire, along with all of the other drafts of this prologue.


	32. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I do not own Tales of Symphonia. They all belong to their respectful owners and you would just be wasting your time trying to sue me so will you stop sending lawyers to my house?

 **Ranma and the Land of Symphonia Presents:**

 **Chapter 1 – Of Humans and Half-Elves**

Being unexpectedly transported to another dimension is not a pleasant experience. The best way to describe ones first transportation would be along the lines of having your body ripped to little pieces and slowly rebuilt piece by piece somewhere else. A weak person would die. A normal man would be in a coma for at least a week. For Ranma, it rendered him unconscious for several hours. 

Ranma woke with a start. He immediately tried to jump up, only to be brought to his knees by a wave of pain. He bit back a shout and looked around. He concluded that he was in a holding cell, made of a type of metal material. On the opening to the cell there appeared to be a shimmering blue wall of light. Ranma crawled over to it and placed his hand against it finding it to be quite solid.

Although Ranma was not the brightest person in the world, he knew that trying to punch his way out of the cell would be futile. Leaning against the wall he looked himself over to assess his condition.

Despite being in a lot of pain, he could find no visible injuries. Looking at his clothes he found that instead of his trademark Chinese red silk shirt and black pants, he was wearing thin, light brown robes. On his right hand, he was shocked to find that there was a gem there, deeply imbedded into his skin. Taking a closer look at it, he knew that it was futile to remove it for it was too deeply inserted into his skin. It seemed to glow a pale blue with a small hint of red.

"So you're finally awake."

The voice surprised Ranma. He hadn't realized there was someone in the cell with him. Looking around into the corner behind him he saw an old lady there in a similar garb with a similar looking gem on her right hand.

"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?" he asked, his voice panicky and quick.

"Slow down child. One question at a time. As to where you are, you are in Iselia Human Ranch. You were dragged here by several desians."

"What is a desian?"

"Hmm, you don't know what a desian is? Your not from around here are you." Said the old woman.

"I don't even know where 'here' is." Said Ranma. From the way it was sounding, he was in a completely different country.

"Hmm, well I guess I will just have to start at the beginning. Your are in the land of Sylvarant. You were drug here by several half-elf guards known as desians to this prison known as a human ranch." Explained the old woman.

Ranma, who had recovered from his pain, stood up. "I can't stay here, I have to get to my pop, wherever he is." So saying, Ranma walked over to the blue wall and threw a light punch. The shock that he received wasn't too bad but the barrier did nothing to show signs of giving way.

"Don't be foolish young man!" chided the older woman. "Its not possible to break out of here. Even if you did the desians would come by the dozen!"

Ranma was hotheaded, stubborn as hell and an egomaniac but the words of this woman were enough to calm him down for Ranma respected his elders, at least those who earned it. "So what exactly are they going to make me do?" he asked.

"Mostly pointless physical labor. Probably to tire us out by the end of every day."

Ranma punched the ground in frustration. He couldn't spend his time here. He had to get back to Jusenkyo, or if what the woman was saying was true, he needed to find a way back to his own world. He noticed the old woman looking at him in shock. "What?" he asked.

"Young man, if you ever want to escape from here you should hide your true strength. If they find what you are capable of then you will either be killed or put in a high security cell," The woman said in a serious tone of voice. Ranma looked puzzled for a minute then looked down at the floor where he realized the cracks had spider webbed out from his hand.

"By the way, I don't believe I got your name young man."

"Ranma Saotome. A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. My name is Marble."

 **3 days later…**

Ranma's life had taken on a daily pattern. Get up, get fed, and get working. The labor was indeed pointless, consisting of pushing blocks, breaking rock and all other sorts of physical labor. Ranma took Marble's advice and hid his true strength from the desians, pretending to be hurt when their whips hit him, moving just barely as fast as everyone else, but always looking for an escape. He grew to loathe the half elves that simply took pleasure in whipping people for no reason.

Most of the work the desians put them through was done outside and allowed Ranma to get a good view of the surrounding areas. There was a wall that surrounded the ranch about 25 feet high on all sides. Ranma knew that he could clear the wall in a single jump but there was a small problem with that. Well, make that about 20 problems. Specifically the 20 guards stationed with crossbows that seemed to be around the workers. What he needed was some sort of distraction so the guards wouldn't make him a pincushion when he jumped.

Later back in his cell after eating the jail standard dinner, Ranma talked with Marble.

"Tomorrow child, there is going to be a great event known as the light of the oracle. The angels will come down and bestow the tower of salvation upon Sylvarant so that the chosen can begin the journey of world regeneration." Marble said excitedly.

"Huh?" said Ranma intelligently, "What's world regeneration, and what's the chosen?"

"Oh right. I'm sorry I forgot. Best start from the beginning."

Marble then proceeded to tell Ranma the story The Chosen of Regeneration. The land of Sylvarant had started out very prosperous but was steadily falling into decline as the worlds supply of mana, the worlds lifeforce, ran out. When the world was in decline, people like the desians showed up and enslaved humans while the soil became less fertile for crops and droughts would occur. It was up to the chosen of mana to perform the world regeneration ritual to restore mana to the world by releasing the seals at various points in the world.

Ranma's head was spinning from all of the information. Basically some holy man named the 'Chosen' went out to save the world. That much he could grasp. "What is this 'light of the oracle' that you talked about?" he asked Marble.

"Well a nice kid named Genis told me that tomorrow there will be a bright light that could be seen for miles around signaling that the world has been bestowed with the angels blessings. It's also a signal for the chosen to go and start the journey of regeneration."

Ranma only caught the part about the light. Maybe this was his big chance.

Ranma was working outside the ranch doing the easy physical labor, barely able to contain his excitement. He was going to get out of this place today. He was in a hurry too. Although they never seemed to do anything besides physical labor, some of the people had begun to mysteriously disappear. He never saw them again and knew that he would soon share their fate if he did not get out of there.

And then, it happened. A bright flash that illuminated the countryside, the light of the oracle. Everyone momentarily stopped their work, even the desians, to look in the direction from where it came. Ranma took this chance to leap on top of the block he was pushing, then he leaped to the top of the wall. However he couldn't resist one parting gift.

"See ya, suckers!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Many desians turned their heads to him, some even got their crossbows aimed at him, but he was long gone.

Marble was watching from the sidelines. "Good luck Ranma." She said to herself, then turned back to her work.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Well another chapter complete. My thanks goes to the first three people to read my work and critique it. I will answer some questions here.

 **Max Krugman** : No I will not be giving him swords. There are enough sword wielding idiots that are going to be in this story already (somewhere in another universe Kuno sneezes). I was thinking more along the lines of a gauntlet or claw type weapon. It would go well with his martial arts.

 **Jerry Unipeg** : Thanks. What more can I ask for?

 **Campin' Carl** : I will be making my chapters longer, but this seemed like an appropriate stopping point.

For those people that have played the game, remember that they cant kill the humans before they serve their purpose, so they should feed them regularly. Oh and can someone give me a suggestion about how Ranma could get a key crest? I'm kind of at a loss on that one.

Tune in next time for the battle at Martel Temple.


	33. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, I do not own Tales of Symphonia. This is purely a work of fanfiction where I can twist the characters to my will! Muhahahahaha! Cough cough Sorry about that.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews and for god sakes I will not be turning Ranma into a monster, come on. Anyway, as for the pairing situation, I am going to stay away from Nerima. I was thinking Sheena, but I'll consider any suggestions. On with the story.

 **Ranma and the Land of Symphonia**

 **Chapter 2: The Battle at Martel Temple**

Ranma was running blindly. The land was unfamiliar to him so he ran to the only place he knew there was some aspect of human life. Straight towards the light. If you asked him later, he probably couldn't tell you why. It was as if he was drawn there. After 2 minutes of super sonic running Ranma slowed down to a walk. He was in a forest of some kind. Probably Iselia forest if what Marble told him was correct.

He thought through his situation. He had no where to go, no idea which part of the map he was on and no idea how he was going to get food. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of marching feet on the path he was on. Jumping up into a tree he saw familiar red and brown uniforms of the desian guards.

'Damnit, how did they find me so fast?' he thought to himself. There was no way they could have gotten from the ranch this fast. However, they did not seem to be looking for him. The group passed right under the tree and continued on towards the temple.

'This cant be good' thought Ranma. He had from Marble heard how the desians opposed the journey of regeneration and sought to kill the chosen and it was up to her guardians to protect her. Ranma thought this over for all of 2 seconds before silently following behind them. He had a bit of a bone to pick with them anyway.

They reached the temple in two minutes where Ranma witnessed an exchange between two people. A huge man with a morning star and a shorter man wearing robes as well but with slightly colored patches on it. He carried a red sword. Ranma witnessed the exchange.

"Lord Botta, the priests have holed themselves in the central chamber and defending against all of our attacks." The big one said.

"With the troops here it will be childs play." He addressed the soldiers, "You 5, come with me." Botta, the giant and 5 of the 20 soldiers went into the temple. The sounds of battle broke out. Not long after a priest came out of the entrance wounded.

"Looks like they left some for us after all. Time to finish this one off," said one of the guards. He went over to the man and drew his sword.

Let it never be said that Ranma was without honor, but when the odds are stacked against you 15 to 1, fair fighting is a myth. There was no shout, no battle cry, just the sounds of two guards being hit hard enough to impact the temple wall and leave their impressions.

"Who the hell are you?" shouted one guard who saw what happened. All of the guards turned their heads towards him drawing their weapons. Some in the back drew crossbows.

"I'm Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts." He grabbed three arrows out of the air that were shot at him, "I accept your challenge."

Even as the first few guards were rushing him, he jumped behind them, taking the bolts in his hand and throwing them at the bowmen. All of his shots hit the neck area and in the moment of distraction that they had he was on them, breaking one crossbow, breaking another's arm and throwing one person in the path of the oncoming infantry. Then, he concentrated on the weapon bearers.

Ranma was normally a nice person. Few things could make him truly angry and he often knocked people into unconsciousness, but with the desians it was different. He had seen them mercilessly whip, beat and now kill humans right in front of his eyes, so it was understandable that he had some fury to work off.

The desians never had a chance. True, they had weapon training and were better than average, but all their training didn't hold a candle to Ranma. He deliberately got in close so that the desians would be in the way of one another. He grabbed the whip of one that snaked out towards him and swung the unsuspecting desian at the end of the whip around in a circle before throwing him down the hill the temple rested on. A roundhouse kick took out the guy trying to sneak up behind him.

Several punches later it was over. All of the desians were lying in a bruised and battered heap at his feet. It was this scene that the giant walked out to, with Botta trailing behind. "What the hell happened here?" said the giant. Then he noticed Ranma, "You mean to tell me that you did this, don't make me laugh. Ill crush you."

Without warning, the giant attacked. Ranma immediately dogged and assessed his fighting style. He had seen it before. Big, powerful, soaks up blows and slower than molasses. Ranma easily dogged the blows and retaliated in openings you could drive a truck into. He wasn't doing much damage though. Meanwhile the giant was getting frustrated with his lack of success. The blows were not hurting, it was more of a blow to his pride than anything else. Ranma's insults didn't help either.

In a fight as this one, there are two possible outcomes. The smaller guy wears out the bigger one with repeated blows or the big guy gets in one shot and ends the fight. Unfortunately for Ranma, one desian bowman had gotten a second wind and fired a bolt directly at Ranma's back. This caused Ranma's danger sense to go off and instinctively jump out of the path of the bolt. Looking behind him to where the target was, he left himself open for a second too long and took the huge impact of the giants mace in his chest.

When Ranma was 12, Genma toughened Ranma up by repeatedly bashing him into a tree until it broke. This did make Ranma tougher but there could only be one thing said about a fury enhanced morning star, swung at you by a giant. It hurt.

To make the best of a bad situation, Ranma was able to break his fall by slamming into the person who fired the bolt. Ranma got shakily to his feet trying to regain his wind. The giant was walking over to Ranma, his mace swinging over his head. Ranma was able to doge the blow aimed at his head desperately trying to recover. Unfortunately he stepped on one of the desians heads and lost his footing. He looked up and saw the giant ready to hit him again with another blow. Ranma knew that he couldn't regain his footing in time.

It was at this moment that flying disk flew from the temple stairs and hit the man in the head. This momentary distraction allowed Ranma to plant a kick in the mans midsection knocking him back several feet. It was this scene that Lloyd, Colette, and Genis walked into.

 **Earlier at Iselia Village:**

The light of the oracle had just flashed disrupting the class. "Everyone please remain calm. I am going to go over to the temple to investigate. Please study by yourselves and do not leave the classroom until I get back."

The chosen of regeneration, Colette, stood up. "Professor Raine, should I go along too?"

"No Colette, we will send for you if there is need." So saying Raine walked out of the door.

Everyone in the class was talking excitedly. Lloyd Irving, however, moved towards the door. Genis ran up to him before he could go outside. "Hey Lloyd, what do you think your doing, didn't Raine specifically tell us not to leave the classroom?"

"It's research." Said Lloyd simply, "Don't tell me your not curious?"

Genis was weakening. "But what if Raine comes back?"

"Simple, we get back before she does." Said Lloyd matter of factly.

"Alright, but we better not get caught." Said Genis, grumbling to himself.

"Oh Colette, do you want to come along? After all, this concerns you too."

"Oh sure," said Colette. That said, all three walked out of the classroom.

Outside the village was like a ghost town for there was no sound anywhere. "Why is it so quiet out here?" asked Lloyd. There was no need for an answer as a group of monsters came in through the gate of the village.

Lloyd was a lot like Ranma when it came to thinking. He had a brilliant tactical mind and could battle with the best of them, but fell short in all other areas of thinking. Lloyd drew the wooden swords at his side and got ready for battle. Behind him, Genis took out his kenndama and focused his power into it. Colette got out her charka. The enemies consisted of two zombies and a ghost.

Running forward Lloyd rushed the zombie, dodged its painfully slow attack and countered with several slashes to its midsection. Lloyd jumped out of the way of another attack from the other zombie just as three fireballs impacted the duo. One was burnt to a crisp while the other was slightly singed. Just then a charka flew by and decapitated its head.

The ghost was another story. Physical attacks would not work against it so Lloyd took up a defensive stance in front of Genis to give him time to cast his spell. Hearing the shout of 'fireball' Lloyd leaped out of the way of the ghosts attacks and let the second volley of fireballs impact it. The body broken, the ghost faded from existence.

"Come on Colette, we need to get to the temple. Something must be up." Said Lloyd walking towards the village exit, followed by Genis.

The trio fought their way past another group of enemies and out of the village. All three ran to Martel Temple. At the bottom of the hill, there was a priest collapsed there. Lloyd immediately ran up to him. "Are you allright he asked?" Stupid question really. The man was favoring a wound in his chest and had several cuts over his body."

"De..sians." he managed to croak out, "Broke… treaty. Sorry I wasn't… able to… he…," he spoke no more as the wounds took him to the afterlife. Each person gave a quick prayer for the dead and ran up the stairs. What they saw shocked them.

A kid was fighting against a giant wielding a morning star with several desian bodies around him. It looked as though he had taken a hit to the chest and was barely able to leap out of the way of a killing blow from the giant. They saw him stumble. Lloyd started to run forward but knew he would not be in time to stop the man. Genis started chanting a spell but knew it would be to late. The rescue came in the form of Colette who threw her charka at the mans head.

The momentary distraction allowed the boy to plant a kick in the midsection of the giant to send him back about 5 feet. Ranma jumped over to the trio. "Thanks guys, now lets take this fat guy out."

When in combat, united against a common enemy, no words are needed to convey thoughts and feelings. Lloyd and Ranma both knew that they were on the same side and they were going to take this guy down, one way or another.

 **To Be Continued**

A/N: Yeah I know that I am a jerk for leaving a cliffhanger right here but this seemed like a good place to stop. As for the next chapter, Ranma and company will meet with Kratos the 'mercenary' and Ranma will get a little lesson in humility. Since my e-mail system on this computer is really messed up I am going to answer some critic questions here.

For those of you who don't know, an exsphere is a gem that is inserted into a hand that awakens the dormant capabilities of that human. Basically, it's a power boost. However, if the gem is put directly onto your skin, it poisons your whole body. If you try to remove it, you turn into a monster. To control the poison, you need to have a key crest which will stop it from diseasing your body but will give you the benefits. All desians have these things and so does Lloyd. The only people who can make key crests are dwarves.

As to armedlords comments, remember that the only thing wrong with Raine's key crest was that the charm was worn off, and Lloyd could carve charms.

I also think that a good time for Ranma to start noticing ki would be when Ranma sees Lloyd or Kratos use the Demon Fang.

Finally, during the next chapter, Lloyd will notice the gem and tell Ranma the danger. For god sakes people, I would never turn Ranma into one of those monsters. –shudder-

Tune in next time for: Chapter 3 – Angels, Demons, and Humans


	34. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, I am merely borrowing him from Rumiko Takahashi and now that he is under my power, I can bend him to my will! Muhahahahaha.

-Gets hit over the head with a mallet-

Ranma: Get on with the story!

ClanCrusher: Heh heh, sorry about that. Anyway, I do not own Tales of Symphonia either but I can still make Lloyd do whatever I want him to do.

-Gets hit over the head with a bokken-

Lloyd: I'm warning you

ClanCrusher: Allright, allright geeze. You guys need to take a chill pill. (Looks around and sees Lloyd and Ranma brandishing weapons) On with the story! I'm outta here.

 **Ranma and the Land of Symphonia**

Chapter 3 – Angels, Demons and Humans

Lloyd, Ranma, Genis and Colette assessed their opponent. He had recovered quickly from the blow Ranma landed on him and was ready for more. He charged forward and the quartet jumped out of the way. Lloyd immediately got in close and did his hack and slash routine to the guys chest.

The giant brought one of his gauntleted hands and was able to fend off most of the stikes. Bringing his morningstar behind his head he was about to let loose but found that Ranma had jumped behind him and grabbed the business end of the weapon with a strength that contradicted his small stature.

In his distraction, Lloyd was able to leap up and plant both wooden swords in the mans face. Slightly staggered from this blow he backed up right into Ranma, who performed a leg sweep and knocked him down.

There is a saying that the bigger they are, the harder they fall and this man was really big. Ranma retreated back a few steps just at the time Genis released his fireball, hitting the prone man right in the chest, making him slightly scorched and uncomfortable in the metal armor that was heating up.

"Little rats!" He shouted and got up swinging his morning star. Ranma was able to get out of the way. Lloyd got clipped on the shoulder and was sent reeling back. The giant charged towards Genis who was busy chanting another spell and wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time.

However he had not seen the charka until it was too late and hit him squarely in the eye. Lloyd saw an opportunity and released the Demon Fang, special sword attack from his blades.

Ranma was temporarily shocked when Lloyd shouted out the attack. How did that kid manage to do that? He knew that he could use ki to increase his physical abilities beyond that of a normal human but he didn't know it could be used in such a manner. He would have to experiment later. Right now…

The energy traveled along the ground and hit the man squarely in the leg and dissipated. Ranma wasted no time in going over there and planting a flurry of kicks into the back of the mans legs dropping him to his knees. It was at this time that Genis unleashed his spell at point blank range directly into the mans face. Lloyd followed up with several strikes to the mans head.

The giant desperately tried to get up, to try and keep fighting but a final attack from Ranma aimed at his head ended his thoughts. The man's head could only take so much punishment, he collapsed to the ground.

Ranma walked over to where Lloyd was taking a breather and initiated a conversation. "Hi, my names Ranma." He stuck out his hand.

Lloyd took the offered hand and shook it. "Lloyd Irving. You had some nice moves out there."

"Likewise." Said Ranma. He was impressed with that Demon Fang technique. Lloyds moves seemed original and self taught. He didn't stick to a form anyway.

Lloyd caught sight of Ranma's hand as he withdrew from the handshake. "You have an exsphere!" he exclaimed surprised.

Ranma took a look at his hand and shrugged. "So that's what this thing is called. Those desians attached this thing to me when I came to the ranch."

The short, silver haired kid known as Genis spoke up, "You escaped from the ranch? How?" he asked excitedly with a hint of awe in his voice.

Ranma shrugged again. "I jumped over the wall. No big deal really. Then I followed these people to see what they were up to."

Lloyd however was still concentrating on Ranma's exsphere. "You know that's dangerous don't you?" he asked in a serious voice. Though Lloyd was not academically gifted, he could recite to you anything about exspheres as if it was taken from a textbook. "Attaching an exsphere to your bare skin without a key crest will slowly poison your body eventually killing you."

Ranma was shocked. "You mean to tell me that this thing is poisoning my body?" He shouted. He picked up a rock on the ground and was about to smash his hand if need be to get at the crystal when he found his hand restrained by Lloyd.

"The only safe way to remove it is with a key crest. If you try to remove it that way, the poison will only act more quickly." Lloyd was relieved to see that Ranma had calmed down.

Ranma regained control of himself. He knew next to nothing about exspheres and key crests so he had to trust this red armored Lloyd fellow for now. Coming to that conclusion, Ranma asked the next obvious question. "Where can I find one of these key crests?"

Lloyd continued, "The only people who can make these key crests out of inhibitor ore are the dwarves. Unfortunately most of them are underground in hiding." Ranma's face fell, "Fortunately for you, my dad is a dwarf. I'm sure that he could probably make you one." Ranma's face instantly brightened.

"I hardly know you and your already helping me out. What can I do to repay you?" asked Ranma.

Lloyd just smirked, "Dwarven Vow #2- Never abandon someone in need." Colette having finished her examination of the downed priest and determining he would live walked up behind Lloyd. Lloyd introduced both of the people. "This are my fiends Colette the chosen one and Genis the magic user."

Ranma gaped at this little statement. This girl was the chosen of regeneration? The fate of the world rested on her shoulders? That was a little much to handle. "Your really the chosen?" asked Ranma without thinking.

"Let me guess, you were expecting some old fart with a sense of 'I am more holy than thou art' type of aura weren't you?" stated Genis.

"Well… yeah." Said Ranma slightly embarrassed. In fact, that was exactly what he was expecting. Aside from the crystal in her throat, she didn't really look the part.

The girl looked a little downcast. "I guess I'm not very chosen like am I?"

Ranma, true to form, couldn't stand to see a girl depressed. "No no no, its not like that." He said out loud, "Just because you don't look all holy and great doesn't mean anything. I'm sure you'll do just fine as a chosen. Not to mention you have a wicked aim with that charka of yours." Ranma said, praying to the kami that he said the right thing. Fortunately it seemed to work as she looked visibly happier.

"Thank you um…" she trailed off.

"Ranma Saotome of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts." He supplied.

"Thank you Ranma." She completed.

Ranma turned back to Lloyd. "So what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well, we wanted to go check up on the temple. Today is the day the chosen, Colette here, is supposed to receive the blessings of the angels to start her journey of world regeneration. We were supposed to stay in class but…" he trailed off looking a little embarrassed.

"Makes sense that you were curious. I'm glad you showed up when you did though." Said Ranma, "So tell me, how did you use that Demon Fang attack? I sensed some sort of energy being used in it."

"Oh this?" Lloyd demonstrated the technique again. "All you have to do it channel your ki through your exsphere. It serves as a focus and can help you use ki attacks easier."

Ranma did not like free power ups, but he always liked to try new techniques. Finding his center he looked within himself to find his life energy. With the help of the exsphere he was able to locate it much faster. Taking some of the energy, he channeled it into his fist to where the exsphere was. He was rewarded when his hand started to glow blue, but try as he might he could not release the energy from his fist. Frustrated he punched the ground and was surprised to find himself sitting in a 2 foot crater. Smiling now, Ranma released his hold on the energy and it faded from view. That was a useful technique.

"You picked up on that pretty quick." Commented Genis, slightly impressed. "I tried doing that kind of stuff but I never had the skill for weapons. I turned to magic instead." He said showing his kendama to Ranma.

"Yeah I could tell that wasn't ki, what was that?" he asked Genis.

"Magic requires spiritual and mind energy. That's why Lloyd here cant do it. He doesn't have any."

"Hey!" protested Lloyd. Genis chuckled to himself. It was obvious to Ranma that this was all in good fun. However, the introduction ceremony was interrupted by a new face.

"So you managed to defeat my guards. Most impressive." Said the man Ranma knew as Botta.

Lloyd's demeanor immediately changed from casual friend to serious diplomat. "How dare you desians violate the non-aggression treaty." He drew his swords while Ranma and the others tensed up, preparing for a fight. Unlike the man before, this one knew what he was doing. He had an aura of hidden power and one of those gem thingies on his sword hilt. He also had several backup guards. It looked to be a tough fight but then…

Another man appeared. He jumped in front of Lloyd and Ranma with a steel blade drawn. Ranma almost felt overwhelmed by the amount of power this man had. His aura was huge. Ranma blinked and then found that the aura was gone. Replaced by one of normal size. Ranma and Lloyd shook their heads to clear them. It must have been an energy spike of some sort.

The man didn't even waste a glance at Lloyd's company. He turned towards the man named Botta and his company of guards. His stance alone gave off a feeling of command and power. "Is the chosen all right?" he asked. Hell, even his voice made you want to obey him and listen to his orders.

"I'm all right, thank you." Said the ever trusting Colette.

"Good." Was all the man said before turning back to the arrayed troops.

Ranma noticed Botta recoil in shock. "Damn. I never expected you to be here." He addressed the soldiers, "Retreat for now." That said the entire battalion ran off.

The man turned and Ranma got a good look at their rescuer. He was about 10 years Ranma's senior but his eyes held an ageless quality to them. This man was no stranger to death and all of its lesser functions. He also seemed to be a man of power if he could send Botta running just by showing up.

The man then walked over to the priest who had been forgotten in the entire mess. Concentrating for a second he raised a glowing hand and brought it to the chest wound the priest had. Said wound healed almost instantly.

Ranma watched in fascination. There was a technique he would like having exsphere be damned. He could already see the possibilities. Once the wound was healed the priest got up and addressed the man. "Excuse me sir may I inquire your name?" he asked.

The man seemed to ponder for a moment before responding. "You may call me Kratos." He finally replied.

Ranma, Lloyd, Genis and Colette all approached Kratos. Lloyd was the first to speak up. "Thanks for your help back there." He said, "I don't think we could have taken them,"

Kratos only gave a slight nod in response before returning to the priest. "Where are the chosen's guardians?" he asked the priest.

"The fellow priests that were supposed to accompany her were all killed by the desian raiding party. If it is alright then I would like to purchase your services. You seem to be a fair hand with a sword and you have the look of a mercenary about you."

"Very well I accept." He then turned towards Colette. "We will begin immediately. Let's proceed chosen one."

Ranma and Lloyd both raised cries of protest at this. "Hey I want to come too!" said Lloyd closely followed by Ranma saying, "I want to help her as well."

Kratos looked undaunted but his tone broke no argument. "You will only get in the way. Stay here."

Ranma looked ready to hit him but Lloyd cut off any retort he made. "Alright then, we will follow you by ourselves then." Kratos did not look put off in the slightest.

"Fine, do what you will." And with that Kratos walked into the temple interior.

-Damn, he's one stuck up jerk- thought Ranma to himself. But with that aura he saw earlier maybe he had a good reason to be. He would have to challenge him to a match later.

Ranma, Lloyd, Genis, and Colette all followed Kratos into the temple.

Ranma dodged the spiders web that threatened to ensnare him. He and the party he was with had been battling monsters pretty much non-stop ever since they entered the temple. Ranma killed the spider by bringing his fist on top of the spiders skull. To his side he saw Kratos easily sidestep a swing from a zombie and decapitate it. He moved with a fluid grace that came only with years of practice.

The last of the enemies fell to Lloyd's sword. Although he was not on par with Ranma and Kratos in skill sense, he knew how to use a sword. He had his own style of swordsmanship that made him unpredictable but he was still a bit inexperienced. He had potential though.

Genis was a different matter entirely. His spells were powerful and did a lot of damage to the enemy but they required complete concentration. If he got hit once then he would have to start over which proved to be quite a bother. He also seemed unable to move outside his aura field that he generated when he was casting a spell. This left him extremely vulnerable to attacks unless someone was guarding him while he was casting the spell. In close combat he was hopeless. His weapon was meant for magic casting, not for close range fighting.

Colette was a different matter. Other than her charka attacks she didn't seem to have any really special attacks. Ranma wondered briefly at this. She was the chosen wasn't she? Shouldn't she have some sort of mystic power? As he looked at her he saw another zombie approach her. With a look of determination she concentrated for a second then said "POW HAMMER" and lo and behold out of nowhere a small hammer materialized and hit the zombie on the head, knocking him out. She moved in close with her charka to finish him off.

Ranma nearly fell over laughing. What kind of a move was that? Materializing a hammer out of thin air, what kind of fool would try that on a real human and who would be stupid

enough to stand in the way for that matter?

Somewhere in Nerima, a certain violent, maniac tomboy sneezed.

Ranma suddenly sneezed for some reason he couldn't comprehend. He shrugged and returned his concentration to the fight. They came back to the intersection where there was a three way split. Originally they had gone left and ran into a dead end and had to fight their way back through a horde of monsters that had gotten between them. Even with his new ki technique Ranma's fist was getting sore.

Kratos looked over to where Ranma was standing massaging his fist. He withdrew something and threw it at Ranma who reflexively caught it. It was a pair of bronze gauntlets. "Wear those." He said, "The monsters are only going to get tougher."

"Thanks." Said Ranma as he placed them on his hands. He then ducked a blow from another zombie, performed a leg sweep and Lloyd moved in to finish it off.

"Why are all these monsters here anyway?" complained Lloyd, "I thought this temple was supposed to be a holy place or something like that."

"The path of a chosen is fraught with peril. You must learn to overcome all obstacles, for only then will she be strong enough to perform the ceremony of world regeneration." Said Kratos.

I've heard my old man say that many times, but it makes a lot more sense when he says it thought Ranma to himself. After clearing the monsters at the intersection the group decided to go left. The corridor was small and only three people could walk abreast at a time. Kratos, Lloyd and Ranma took the front with Genis and Colette behind.

One slime like creature and a ghost stood between them and the stairs. Ranma ducked a swing from the ghost who drew a hammer from out of nowhere. It seemed to be a sort of fashion around here for some reason. Beside him Lloyd had blocked the slimes weak attack and both him and Kratos had moved in with their swords.

Genis had just finished casting his fireball. Fortunately two of the three projectiles hit the ghost, disintegrating it. Unfortunately the third fireball hit Ranma who couldn't get out of the way in time.

"My pants are on fire! My pants are on fire!" shouted Ranma who was desperately shaking his pant leg.

"Don't worry I'll take care of it" shouted Genis, "Aqua Edge!"

Several disks of water hit Ranma. Fortunately it put out the fire, while making Ranma soaked in the process. His look towards Genis promised a lot of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll dry you off" said Genis again, "Wind Cutter!"

Several blades of wind appeared around Ranma. Fortunately it dried him off. Unfortunately it gave him several cuts in the process.

"Geeeeniiiiisssss!" Ranma said in a low menacing voice, "Get back here you little runt!" he shouted as Genis ran down the stairs. Lloyd and Kratos sweatdropped.

A Couple Minutes Later-

The party entered the underground portion of the temple. There was several paths that had holes in them and there was a steep drop off right next to the paths that seemed to go on forever. Directly in front of them…

"Hey!" said Genis, "That must be the legendary sorcerers ring!" He pointed to the ring displayed on the pedestal.

"So what's so legendary about it?" asked Ranma.

"Um… well… that doesn't matter. Lets get it." Genis said hurriedly.

"Right," Said Colette, "If they put it in this temple then it must be able to help us get to the oracle room."

Genis and Colette ran forward followed by Lloyd and Ranma but then…

"STOP" Kratos shouted. This shocked everyone into standing still which was luck because a huge pile of rocks fell right in front of Genis and Colette.

"That was close thanks Kratos." Ranma moved towards the rock piles.

"Get back." Said Kratos while drawing his sword. Ranma was puzzled but got ready for battle anyways. He didn't see any monsters.

Ranma got his answer as the stone pile suddenly came to life. It split into three separate masses and formed into three giant stone golems twice the height of a human. Ranma, Lloyd, Genis, and Colette backed up, getting out their weapons.

"You have got to be kidding me." Said Ranma. He charged his gauntlet with ki and moved to attack.

 **To Be Continued…**

A/N: After reading some of the reviews, I had to revise this chapter slightly. I am going to warn you now that I am not going to be following the game by the letter. I will improvise where I deem necessary. Thank you Max Krugman for your advice, for I have to admit that you are right. As always, C&C is always appreciated, flames will be put out with my aqua edge.


	35. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I don't own Ranma ½ or any of its characters. I don't even own this computer. It belongs to my grandfather. The only thing that I own is the clothes on my back… oh wait, these belong to Ranma.

Ranma: Give those back!

ClanCrusher: Anyways folks, on with the story. (Runs off stage left)

Ranma: Get back here!

The stone pile suddenly came to life. It split into three separate masses and formed into three giant stone golems twice the height of a human. Ranma, Lloyd, Genis, and Colette backed up, getting out their weapons.

"You have got to be kidding me." Said Ranma. He charged his gauntlet with ki and moved to attack.

The golems were big, they were powerful, they looked menacing but they were slower than molasses. Ranma easily jumped over one of the blows and retaliated with a strike to its midsection and found another fact.

CLANG!

They were hard. Ranma's impact made a crack but nothing more. Ranma evaded the next strike and had to move out of the way of a third strike from the second golem that was attempting to blind side him.

Meanwhile Kratos and Lloyd had engaged one golem each. Kratos seemed to have no trouble whatsoever as his ki charged blade was easily cutting the stone while he was avoiding the blows. One strike took the golems arm off. Kratos ducked a second strike from his opponents remaining arm and slashed several times at its midsection.

Lloyd had been able to catch his golem off guard when it tried to attack Ranma. He took the opportunity to make several slashes into the golems back. The offense was short lived as the golem made a spinning maneuver and lashed out with his arms in a whirlwind type attack. Lloyd ducked between his opponents legs and released two slashes with his duel swords. Although they were wood they did damage. The golem then tried a sitting maneuver in an attempt to crush Lloyd who was able to get out of the way in time.

Lloyd unleashed his 'Demon Fang' and sent the golem staggering back into the one Ranma was facing. Ranma, seeing an opportunity, jumped over the two golems and planted a kick into the midsection of the golem Lloyd was facing, initiating the domino effect, sending Ranma's golem over the edge.

Genis finally released his spell. All 3 aqua disks his the golem squarely in the chest blasting several rocks out of its body. Loosing its vital pieces caused the golem to collapse.

Kratos concentrated for a second and his blade glowed a faint blue. He stepped back from the golem's initial blow and then unleashed 'Sonic Thrust' right into the middle of the golem. The thrust blew out his opponents midsection, collapsing the golem.

"That was easier then I thought it would be," Said Ranma.

Kratos was thinking to himself. The style Ranma was displaying was unique. He had been around as a mercenary and seen all types of fighting and martial arts but this kid brought it to a new level. He recognized several different fighting styles and yet some were unknown even to him. Even with the exsphere the kid was displaying an extraordinary level of strength to crack the golem with one strike using blunt trauma.

"Ranma." Spoke Kratos.

Ranma was shocked to be personally addressed by Kratos. Despite calling out the names of his attacks occasionally, he barely spoke. "Yeah?" he asked nervously.

"I have a couple of questions for you before we continue." His tone said that there would be no argument. "First of all, where do you come from?"

-Great- thought Ranma. He knew this question was going to be brought up sooner or later. "Do you know where Tokyo is?" asked Ranma hopefully.

The blank look he received was his only answer.

"I'm kinda wondering that too." Said Lloyd, "I've never seen you in Iselia village before."

Ranma sat down on one of the remains of the golem. "Take a seat," he said, "This is going to take a long time." And he proceeded to give them a general outline of his life, starting with his training trip, although excluding the neko-ken experience.

Surprisingly, the entire group seemed to take it in stride. After all, magic in Symphonia was common place so a person from another dimension was not to hard to believe.

Kratos remained emotionless quietly assessing the information. Anything Goes Style? He had heard that name from someone else but couldn't quite put his finger on it. However this man Genma, if he ever met him, would taste the end of his steel blade if he ever met him. Kratos admitted to himself that he was never a good father but what Genma did was beyond belief. There would be time to think of that later however.

Lloyd was in a state of disbelief after hearing of Genma's version of 'training' from Ranma. –Maybe it was better that he got sent here rather than stay with that person he calls father. Who knows what kind of trouble he would have had if he stayed.-

ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!

Somewhere in another dimension four girls sneezed suddenly. Ukyo burned an Okanomiyaki, Shampoo slipped off the challenge log, Kodachi inhaled some of her own paralysis powder and Akane sneezed on her cooking and continued cooking, oblivious to everything.

Lloyd walked up to Ranma and put a hand on his shoulder. "If you don't have anywhere else to go, you can always stay with me and my dad."

"Well I wouldn't want to intrude…" Ranma began hesitantly.

Lloyd cut him off, "Think nothing of it. You can stay until you find a way back to your home world."

"Thanks. I owe you a lot already," Said Ranma. He was still depressed about being forced out of his home world but he was making friends here, something he never got to do on the road with his pop.

Colette was also horrified at what Genma had done. It was a wonder Ranma survived some of the things Genma put him through such as being thrown off a 2 story building to learn how to fall right, being chased by wolves with meat strapped to yourself to increase speed, being bashed repeatedly into a tree to improve endurance, fighting his father while he was drunk to counter opponents who didn't fight fair, sparring with him for three days straight to learn how to fight when fatigued, stealing from food vendors in the guise it was training and Kami knows what else.

Colette approached Ranma and said in a voice contrary to her childlike nature, "Ranma, I know that you are sad about leaving your home world but believe me when we say that you are better off without your father. Just so you know, you will always have friends here." So saying, she stuck out her hand.

"Yeah, me too!" said Genis, who also offered his hand.

Ranma felt a rush of gratitude towards their words. He took the offered hand, "Thanks Colette. You to Genis," He said and gave them a small smile.

"If you are all rested then we must continue onwards." Said Kratos. He clipped his sword and sheath to his belt. Everyone else stood up, gathered their things and continued up the flight of stairs.

The group reached the top of the flight of stairs at the end of the path. They didn't encounter any more enemies. At the top of the flight of stairs they found a pedestal that had a ring on it.

"That's the legendary sorcerers ring!" exclaimed Genis.

Lloyd walked over to the ring and put it on. "Yeah that's nice but what does it do?" He balled his hand into a fist and thrust it outward. A small fireball emitted from the ring, went about 3 feet and extinguished. "That's cool!"

"Take it along. It will be the key to getting past many barriers in this temple." Said Kratos, putting on the wise and all knowing act.

"You know that your just gonna get bored with it sooner or later," Said Genis dryly to Lloyd.

"Yeah but this thing is great!" He made another fireball appear, unfortunately Ranma was in the way.

"AHH MY SHIRT'S ON FIRE!" yelled Ranma as he shook his sleeve.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," said Genis, "AQUA EDGE!"

 **One Painful and Violent Scene Later…**

"Ranma," addressed Kratos. Ranma looked towards him, "You should get armor more resistant to flame. You don't want to go through this every time you get hit with a fireball."

The old Ranma would have disagreed saying armor restricted movement. This new Ranma, however, had just been on the receiving end of all the elements of magic, minus thunder. He nodded in understanding towards Kratos.

After the episode with the sorcerers ring the group had made their way back to the first floor. After they had grabbed the ring from the pedestal, the monsters seemed to come out in full force so it had been a constant battle to the stairs.

Finally they made it back to the temple's main room back at the three way intersection. Left had proved to be a dead end, they had just come from the right so that left the center fork. Strangely they found it devoid of enemies. After a minute of walking, they came upon a barrier which they couldn't pass. Ranma drew back his fist to strike it but…

"Don't bother, it wont work," Said Kratos without looking. "Lloyd?" He let the question trail off as he looked at Lloyd.

Lloyd stood there for a second, then two, then three, then, "Oh!" he exclaimed finally. He balled his fist with the ring on it and let loose with a fireball towards the barrier. The barrier disintegrated almost instantly.

"That's all it dose?" He asked to no one in particular, "Well that's kind of boring."

Genis sighed, "I knew it."

Beyond the barrier was a teleporter. Kratos and Colette walked up to it and went in, followed by Lloyd and Genis. Ranma hesitated a little remembering the last time he went through a teleporter but followed after them.

 **The Seal Room**

The teleporting experience wasn't as bad as last time. It was still a bit painful though. Everyone in the room was tense as if waiting for something to happen. All of a sudden a voice from out of nowhere spoke.

"Colette, chosen of mana and world regeneration. Offer your prayers at the alter."

"Yes." Was all she said. She kneeled down before the circular platform and started to pray. It was then that Ranma laid his eyes for the first time upon an Angel. A bright flash of light heralded his coming.

It was just like the legends. He had wings, he had robes, and he had an aura that radiated holiness. He stayed in the air flapping his wings occasionally to stay afloat. Then he spoke.

"I, Remiel come as the herald of good news. Colette has been accepted as the chosen of mana. We of Cruxis bless this event and herby bestow the tower of salvation upon Sylvarant."

Everyone, except Kratos, turned towards the window to see a huge tower, giant beyond belief reach towards the heavens and beyond. Further view of the tower was obstructed by the clouds in the sky. There didn't seem to be any top to it at all.

"The first seal lies to the south. Good luck Colette." So saying Remiel started to float upwards but Colette had one more question for him.

"Wait, Remiel. Is it true? Are you really my fat…?"

"The first seal lies to the south. Good luck, my beloved daughter, Colette." As he finished he rose up a bit further, and in a flash of light, was gone.

 **To Be Continued…**

A/N: Ok I lied. I was able to get one more chapter off after all. I hope you enjoyed it. All C&C is greatly appreciated and Ranma here is taking care of my flames.

Ranma: AHH MY SHIRT'S ON FIRE!

ClanCrusher: Heh heh. Anyway, the next update wont be for a while yet. You could take that time to play the game. It's very interesting. Till Next time…


	36. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, I do not own Tales of Symphonia. If I did, I would be living the rich and easy life and not bother writing fanfiction about it. Since I don't, I have to be content with writing twisted and evil stories about my favorite characters. In other news…

Ranma: Get to the story you baka!

Lloyd: We've been waiting for 3 weeks! Hurry up!

ClanCrusher: Allright already. (mutters) impatient little…

Ranma: What was that?

ClanCrusher: Nothing! Here we go!

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 5: Ranma vs. Kratos**

"Man that's big." Said Ranma master of the obvious as he looked at the tower of salvation.

Everyone was silent for a moment until, "If we are done here," spoke Kratos, "I suggest we leave." He addressed Colette, "You have a long journey ahead of you and you should take the next two days to rest and set your affairs in order." He walked into the teleporter and disappeared.

Lloyd looked steamed and was about to go on a rant about Kratos but Colette interrupted him, "Ranma, Genis, Lloyd?" All three looked towards her, "Thank you for coming with me. Could you please come to my house later?"

"Sure thing." Lloyd turned to Genis, "We should be getting back to class. I hope we can get there before the professor finds out that we're gone. You coming?" The question was aimed at Ranma.

-Not like I have anywhere else to go- thought Ranma, "Sure thing." All three went through the teleporter and started walking back towards the entrance. They didn't encounter any monsters.

"You know," commented Lloyd as they were walking, "It must be pretty hard to be an angel."

"Why's that?" asked Ranma genuinely curious. His school of martial arts involved a lot of midair combat and he figured that things like their wings would be a huge advantage in fighting.

"Their wings," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "They would have to cut holes in the back of all their shirts. You would have a heck of a time changing, not to mention they would always be getting in the way when you sleep and sit down in chairs."

Ranma was at a loss for words at the moment but Genis however, "So how long have you been thinking about this?"

"Hey!" Protested Lloyd. Further discussion was cut off by a new voice as they reached the central chamber.

"MARVELOUS!" Standing in the middle of the room was a woman with silver hair like Genis and dull orange coat and pants. She had her back to them but Ranma noticed Lloyd and Genis pale a bit.

"P-p-professor Raine!" Lloyd stammered

"Sis, what are you doing here?" asked Genis

Raine turned around and Ranma noticed a maniac glint in her eye before her gaze hardened as she looked at Lloyd and Genis.

"And what," she stated dangerously punctuating each syllable, "are you two doing out of class?"

"Uh-Oh." Was all Genis had time to say before Raine had him over her knee. She then delivered several slaps into his rear end. Ranma and Lloyd respectfully turned their backs to them.

When Raine was finished she turned her gaze to Lloyd. He shivered under her gaze, "Your turn." She said.

"Wha…!" shouted Lloyd before Raine executed a perfect kick into his face. He flew five feet back into the temple wall and slumped to the ground.

"Ow sis, that hurt," complained Genis while rubbing his backside. (if you haven't figured it out by now Genis and Raine are siblings)

Ranma closed his mouth that was hanging open. He had seen Lloyd fight and although it wasn't perfect it would still take a lot of strength and skill to knock Lloyd over in one shot.

Raine pulled a staff from out of nowhere and pointed it at Ranma's throat who put up his hands in a warding gesture, "And you," she began but then her expression changed from anger to confusion, "I've never seen you around here before, who are you?"

Ranma gave his classic greeting while putting his hand on the back of his head, "I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about this."

Raine considered that for a moment then put her staff away. She couldn't his him until she knew him well enough. Oh well, she would just have to get to know ­him better. That wouldn't be so bad considering… her thoughts trailed off on that line of thinking.

"Professor why are you here?" asked Lloyd. Apparently he had recovered from the kick that Raine gave him and was walking, if a bit disoriented.

"The mayor gave me permission to investigate these ruins. It's a great opportunity for someone who isn't a priest or the chosen." As she spoke she seemed to regain that maniac glint in her eye that Ranma first saw on her. She turned back to Ranma with her cold stare in place, "So what exactly are you doing in the temple?"

Ranma was afraid of few things in life. He had faced all manner of wild animals trying to kill him and had been in more life and death situations then he could remember but when Raine turned that cold gaze on him it sent shivers up his spine, "I just followed Lloyd and Kratos into the temple, I'm not really sure what I'm doing here." It was mostly the truth, he had wanted to repay the favor to Colette for saving him.

-Privileged my foot, they'll let any person come in the temple nowdays- thought Raine, "Lloyd, Genis, please go back to the village," she turned to Ranma, "As for you, I don't know who you are but you don't look like a priest. I'm sorry but your not allowed to be in here, I'm not sure what happened but I think that it is best that you left for right now." Finished, she walked into the temple interior.

Ranma was looking a little crestfallen until Genis came up behind his and said, "Don't mind her, she's a teacher and a real stickler for the rules."

"Not to mention a good shot." Grumbled Lloyd while rubbing his chin.

They had gotten to the entrance when they heard a sound from where the professor was.

 **MUHAHAHA!**

"What was that?" asked Ranma 

"Trust me," said Genis, "You don't want to know."

The trio walked out of the temple grounds and onto a stretch of field. There were several varieties of animals that seemed to do nothing other than wander aimlessly around the field. Some were even brave enough to attack them. One particular battle…

"Okay," stated Ranma dodging a wolf's charge, "Wolves I can understand," Ranma brought his fist down on the wolf's head, crushing its skull and killing it, "Snakes are also understandable," he continued as Lloyd dodged the snakes bite and chopped it's head off, "I can even go so far as to understand these birds," Genis performed a wind cutter and cut the bird to ribbons.

"But what I don't understand," he said angrily as he dogged his assailants attacks, "Is why the heck these damn rabbits are attacking us!" He dogged another double kick from the rabbit and nailed it with an uppercut sending it into LEO.

"Ya know," said Lloyd thoughtfully as he sheathed his sword, "I never really thought about that."

Genis was looking at the shooting star rabbit, "I think you kinda spliced your shot there."

Ranma sweatdropped.

The party was almost to the village when Lloyd made a sudden realization, "Whoops. I forgot to return the sorcerers ring."

"Moron." Muttered Genis.

"Do I have to give it back?" he asked. The question seemed to be directed at them but neither of them knew quite how to respond.

"You know that you are going to get bored with it eventually." Said Genis

"Not like their going to need it." Ranma said. As far as he was concerned the sorcerers ring was generally useless unless it was used to annoy the hell out of someone, like him.

"Yeah," continued Lloyd, "This thing is so cool!" he shot off another fireball in Ranma's direction who bent over at an almost 90 degree angle to avoid it.

"Watch it!" he shouted while shooting a glance at Genis kendama. Further discussion was cut off as they were hailed by the village guards and entered Iselia Village.

Ranma took in his surroundings as he was trained to do but immediately relaxed his guard. The village was very mundane. Everything was built using wood of various types. Gardens seemed to be commonplace in front of all of the houses. It gave the village a relaxed and peaceful feeling. There were various dirt paths that ran by the houses and several farms with people working on them.

Genis spoke up, "Hey Lloyd can we stop by my house? I need to get something."

"Sure thing."

Genis and Raine's house was larger than most of the others. It looked like an old remodeled storage place, however the inside was well furnished and gave the place a nice homey feel. While Genis was getting his things Ranma looked around and spotted the bookshelf.

The bookshelf contained several thick volumes with titles such as Advanced Math Therom and Great Archeological Finds. There was also a book titled Magic For Dummies.

"Must be hard to find a good book to read living with a professor and all that," commented Ranma.

"Actually those are mine." Said Genis.

Ranma and Lloyd sweatdropped.

The trio was walking through the village when Ranma asked, "Where is your house Lloyd?"

"I don't live inside the village. My mom died when I was very little and I was found abandoned in the forest. I was found there by a dwarf that lived on the surface named Dirk." Lloyd spoke in such a tone that said he had gone through the story many times before.

"I'm sorry," said Ranma in respect for the dead, "Do you know anything about your father?"

"I've never seen or met my father. I don't know if he is dead or alive. I consider Dirk my father."

They finally reached Colette's house near the end of the village. It was obviously the nicest house in the village with a perfect garden out front and neatly cleaned outside. Ranma, Lloyd and Genis entered the house to find that a crowd was already sitting at the table inside.

Ranma noticed Kratos and Colette but there were three other people he didn't know. Fortunately Genis whispered some commentary, "The person with the stupid hat on and the brown vest is the mayor of Iselia village." He indicated a man at the end of the table.

"Does he have a name?" asked Ranma

Genis thought for a moment, "Not sure," he indicated an elderly couple sitting side by side, "That's Frank and Phaidra, Colette's biological parents."

"Dose that mean Colette has two fathers?" asked Ranma

"Hmm, guess so," responded Genis.

The mayor spoke up, "It is decided then. Raine and Kratos will accompany the Chosen on her journey."

"Are you talking about the journey of world regeneration? I want to go too." Said Lloyd

"Yeah I want to see Colette regenerate the world too." Put in Genis.

Kratos looked straight at Lloyd, "You would only get in the way. It is best if you did not come along."

"Hold on a sec Kratos," broke in Ranma, "Lloyd's technique may be self taught but even you can see the potential he has."

"That may be true but the journey of regeneration is not a training journey." Responded Kratos.

The mayor seemed to regard all three of them with disdain, "The journey of regeneration is a serious matter. It is not to be attempted and bungled by children."

Believe it or not, Ranma was actually a decent judge of character. Although he was not on par with some ice cold mercenaries he could tell who could be trusted to watch his back and who would stick a knife in it. The mayor seemed to him like a person full of arrogance who flaunted his position while not actually doing anything.

"We have important things to discuss so please step outside." Concluded the mayor.

Lloyd finally got fed up and after shooting a dirty glare at Kratos, left the house with Genis trailing behind him. Ranma glared at the mayor and followed after Genis. Colette waited a few seconds then excused herself from the table.

Outside everyone was about to head their separate ways when Colette came outside. Unfortunately she tripped on the stairs leading to her house. Fortunately Ranma was already there to catch her before she fell.

"Thanks." She said as she straightened up. "I really appreciated your help today Lloyd and I would like you to come along on my journey."

Lloyd immediately cooled off as he talked to Colette, "I really want to see you regenerate the world too. When do you leave?"

"Meet us at the front of the village at noon two days from now," she responded.

"Will do." Said Lloyd.

"Oh, by the way," said Genis, "Happy birthday! I baked you some cookies." He handed her a package full of cookies.

"Thank you Genis I always appreciate you cooking." She said while smiling.

"What about you Lloyd? Weren't you going to make her a necklace?" teased Genis.

Lloyd put his hand on the back of his head in a very Ranma like manner, "Eh heh heh, well I almost have it done. I'll get it to you… tomorrow, yeah that's it!"

"Thank you Lloyd, and thank you Ranma for coming with me today. And don't worry about a birthday present for me either." She said the last part to Ranma who was just about to apologize for not having a present. She turned and walked back inside.

Meanwhile inside the house, Kratos was also getting fed up with the mayors attitude. If it wasn't for Colette's personal request for Lloyd to stay behind Kratos would have taken Lloyd along. He would have been a good addition to the team because he was a good protector and a close up fighter. Raine was only good for support, a good healer but a bad fighter and even that was limited since she did not have an exsphere. Colette wouldn't be very useful in a fight either so most of the work would fall on him.

Even Genis would have been a good addition to the team. His magic may be weak right now but a mage with the right training could be absolutely devastating in battle. There was only one person who Kratos could rely on to come along.

Kratos made his excuses and walked out the door to confront Ranma Saotome.

Ranma was about to follow Lloyd to his house when Kratos appeared at the doorway, "Ranma," he stated, "Can I have a private word with you?"

"Uh… sure I guess." Said Ranma uncertainly. Kratos struck him as the type of person who would sooner die than ask favors. The fact that he was left Ranma a little off balanced.

"We'll wait for you here." Said Lloyd. Ranma nodded affirmative.

Ranma followed Kratos past the schoolhouse, outside the village and into a wooded area. When they had reached a clearing in the forest Kratos pulled out a bottle from his belt and opened it. A fine white mist emanated from the bottle.

"What's that?" asked Ranma curiously.

"A holy bottle." He responded, "It will keep the monsters away from us so they wont interrupt us." Ranma noticed several monsters fleeing the vicinity.

Ranma got straight to the point, "What do you want to ask me?" He noticed Kratos fingering the hilt of his sword and tensed up.

"I will get to that but first," he drew a practice sword in one swift movement, "We spar!" Both sides got into ready positions and saluted eachother.

"I was hoping you would say that," said Ranma. It was true that Ranma had wanted to spar with Kratos ever since he saw him fight at Martel Temple. Although he hid it well, Ranma was a well trained martial artist and could tell that Kratos was hiding his true strength.

(For those of you who want to, go to and play the "Kratos Final Fight Music" on Tales of Symphonia)

At an unseen signal both fighters ran at eachother, Ranma throwing a series of light blows, testing Kratos defense. Ranma was not disappointed as Kratos deflected each blow with a minimum of force and retaliated.

Ranma knew that Kratos was holding back but he didn't know just how much until he was forced to block a few blows which came at him to quickly to dodge. Even through his gauntlets he was feeling the force of the blows. Ranma tried to dodge more and block less which proved difficult give the speed at which the blows were coming.

Although it was customary for Ranma to yell out insults during a match he knew right away that he would just be wasting his breath. Kratos was the kind of person who would stay calm while someone shouted in his ear. Ranma rededicated his efforts into finding an opening.

Ranma jumped over another strike from Kratos and placed a hand around his blade. He lashed out with his feet in midair and was able to land a double footed kick into Kratos chest. Kratos staggered back half a step but quickly recovered and twisted his blade free from Ranma's grip.

He danced just out of reach of Kratos retaliatory strikes but failed to notice in time that his sword had a white tinge to it. Without warning a Demon Fang was released from Kratos sword which connected with Ranma's chest.

Ranma jumped back a few feet to recover from the blow and approached with more caution. The ki blasts Kratos fired hurt like hell and there was little warning before one was shot off.

Attacking with greater speed and less strength Ranma came in again with a phenomenal speed. He was holding nothing back now going full out against Kratos with good results. Ranma would attack in one place but was gone and attacking in another before Kratos could connect with his sword. After a minute of this Kratos jumped back about 10 feet out of Ranma's range.

"Impressive." He commented showing no signs of the blows he suffered from Ranma, "Let's get serious."

Ranma came in again and was met midway by Kratos who was now matching his speed. Ranma found himself being put on guard as many times as he was going offensive. It seemed that they were evenly matched in speed. Neither side seemed to gain an advantage.

Ranma faked an attack to the front and drew Kratos sword away from his side where he attacked. Unfortunately the sword which had been at his front had continued in a circle, along with his body, so fast that it left a ki trail behind it. He simultaneously jumped into the air creating a spiral type effect. The final result was several hits all over Ranma's body.

Ranma backed off to get some breathing room. -What the hell was that? I've never seen ki used that way before. I didn't have time to try this out but I don't think that I can win any other way-

Ranma jumped into the trees and started tree hopping in a circle around Kratos building up speed until he was to fast to track. Finally he launched himself directly at him twisting in midair to avoid a Demon Fang released from his blade. Kratos jumped to the side to avoid Ranma but he was prepared for that. Cupping his hands together in midair, Ranma shouted "DEMONIC BLAST" and fired off a pure ki blast at Kratos who erected a ki shield just before impact.

Some people would say that Ranma has no mind for academics and they would mostly be right. However, when faced with a martial art challenge Ranma's learning curve was off the charts. Ever since he saw the Demon Fang Lloyd made, Ranma had been pondering how to make a ki blast.

When he brushed Lloyd's Demon Fang at Martel Temple, he felt a surge of confidence, like he could take on the world. When Kratos hit him with his blast, he felt nothing except intense concentrated pain. Then he had the answer. Lloyd was using emotions as a medium to project his ki while Kratos used no emotions. Ranma had tried to produce that type of ki and was finally able to do it with quite a bit of difficulty by blending all of his emotions together. Confidence, Depression, Anger, Joy, Happiness and Sadness formed together to make emotionless ki. It had taken him about 15 seconds to form it.

Despite having erected a ki shield, Kratos still took about 5 seconds to fully recover from the blow. Unfortunately Ranma had drained up a lot of his reserves and his ki supplies were almost depleted from continuous boosting of his speed and his first pure ki blast, his reserves were almost dry, contrary to Kratos who seemed ready for action, if slightly worn.

"Very impressive for your first ki blast," he commented, "But if memory serves me correctly your are pretty worn out right now." He charged forward again attacking with a slightly lessened speed from before.

To Ranma's credit, he was able to take another 10 blows from Kratos and was able to deal a couple before he lapsed into the peaceful realm of unconsciousness, his ki reserves depleted.

Ranma awoke some time later to a campfire which Kratos was sitting at, drinking some tea. Kratos looked to Ranma and handed him a cup, "Drink this," he said, "It will make you feel better."

Ranma accepted the tea and took a long drink. He was surprised at how noticeably better he felt after drinking it, "Wow, where did you learn to make such great tea?" he asked.

"I've had a few years of practice." He stated. Then he got down to business, "You fought well. Your form is excellent, your speed is phenomenal and even your ki is well focused from someone who dose not have much special training in that area. If there is one god thing that I MUST say about Genma, it is that he taught you well."

"Actually I have the sensei of the school of a Thousand Cuts for my speed training. My pop didn't teach me much beyond the basics. I have the sensei's of several different schools to thank for my martial arts skills." Ranma was thinking of bragging but it didn't sit right with Kratos, especially since Kratos just beat him.

His external appearance gave no sign of change but inside he was thinking -With a father like that, Ranma was lucky to be sent to this world.- Instead he said, "Thanks to those Sensei's, you are a very good fighter. What you lack it proper ki and endurance training."

Ranma was surprised that he was not more angry at loosing to Kratos or by being shown his faults. Perhaps it was the fact that Kratos was a true master of the art and ki disciplines and there was no shame in loosing to him. Only one thing to do, swallow the pride and ask. Without hesitation he asked, "If you can, will you please train me?"

-Now to cinch the deal- thought Kratos, "I will train you if you can grant me one request in return." Ranma nodded, "I wish for you to accompany Raine, Colette, and I on the journey of world regeneration."

Ranma was surprised to say the least. Kratos seemed like the kind of person who would suffer rather than ask for help from someone, "Why?" He asked.

"The journey of regeneration is filled with many powerful monsters. I could handle myself in battle with ease but having to watch out for two mages at the same time would be near impossible for even someone of my skills. I need your help in doing this and that is why I wish for you to come along."

In the short time Ranma knew Colette he had immediately liked her. She was kind, trusting, and caring and almost immediately offered friendship to him. When she was happy, it was hard not to be happy as well, she was just one of those people that just radiated cheerfulness so it was of little surprise that Ranma instantly agreed.

"Good." Said Kratos, he withdrew a bad from his belt and tossed it to Ranma. It was full of coins. "I assume that Lloyd has already offered you a place to stay. Go and get some armor and some rest and have the local dwarf make you a key crest for your exsphere. The chosen's party will leave at 10:00 day after tomorrow."

Ranma thanked Kratos for the money and bowed respectfully like a student to a sensei and ran back to the village.

To Be Continued…

Authors Notes:

Back from 3 weeks of summer camp and up with a new chapter of Ranma in the Land of Symphonia, hope you liked it. This was my first blow by blow non-lethal match ever and I don't know how good it was so I would like C&C on it especially. I know that some of you thought that Kratos shouldn't have won, but hey, with **_that_** much training…

Anyway, in case you didn't notice, I am having the chosen's journey starting day after tomorrow. This will let me use the next chapter to fit in several important storyline plots and a bit extra such as Ranma at school and his Key Crest.

If you have any questions about the official storyline or things that might give the plot away you can e-mail them directly to me so as not to give away the story to other readers who have not played Tales of Symphonia.

I will try to update more often now that I get to stay home for the rest of the summer and if anyone who reviews my stories wants a review in return then I will be happy to comply.

Just because I have to, school of a Thousand Cuts belongs to Jade Empire.

Tune in next time for:

Chapter 6

Trouble at the Human Ranch


	37. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Tales of Symphonia but I do own Tales Of Symphonia, it's a great game and I encourage anyone reading this story who hasn't played the game to do so. It will give you a better understanding although I will try my best to explain it.

Ranma: Hey your right, this is a fun game!

Lloyd: Hey, quit playing as me, your making me look bad!

ClanCrusher: Guys? Hey Guys!

No response.

ClanCrusher: Oh well, looks like I'm not the only one obsessed with the game. On with the story.

The walk back to the village was uneventful except for a few minor creatures that got in his way. He kept replaying the recent fight over and over in his mind trying to see what he could have done differently but for the first time ever he came up blank. Kratos was a true master of swordsmanship and ki manipulation. He was in almost every way, Ranma's better.

Ranma didn't fell bad about this though which was strange. It was probably due to the fact that Ranma now had a challenge to rise up to and meet. Not to mention Kratos said he would train him which made the deal that much sweeter.

Finally he reached the village entrance where Lloyd was waiting for him, "So what did he want?" asked Lloyd expectantly.

Ranma knew better then to tell Lloyd the whole truth. If he told him about the journey then Lloyd would probably be a bit envious, "He wanted to talk about my home world and show me a few martial arts tricks," He invented. It wasn't that far from the truth.

Lloyd's curiosity seemed satisfied for the most part but as they walked back out onto the field he asked, "What did he show you?"

"He told me how to produce a ki blast. It should come in handy later, don't you think?" Ranma raised his hand and formed a ki blast that was made of confidence. He didn't have the time to make a pure one and he didn't want to show off too much.

Lloyd nodded approvingly, "It will come in handy. By the way were you planning on joining the journey of regeneration?"

"I was thinking about it," he said cautiously.

"I think it would be great if you could come." He said excitedly, "Colette asked me to come. Their leaving at noon day after tomorrow."

Ranma took a moment to process this new information. Kratos told him to meet at 10:00 day after tomorrow. Apparently Colette didn't want to hurt Lloyd's feelings by denying him to come along. Ranma felt sorry for Lloyd but he respected Colette wishes and kept silent about his revelation.

They were almost to the forest when they encountered a new creature. It appeared to be a blue and white dog type creature but it was about 3 times the size of one. On all fours it stood just below the height of Ranma and Lloyd. Ranma got into a battle stance, ready to attack but Lloyd hurriedly put a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

"Hey, calm down that's just Noishe, my pet dog." Said Lloyd

"Whine." Noishe agreed

'What kind of a dog is that?' thought Ranma to himself but he lowered his fist anyway.

Noishe approached Ranma cautiously sniffing here and there. Ranma stood still for the inspection. Finally Noishe let out a whine and rubbed it's head against Ranma's chest. Ranma reached his hand forward and petted him softly.

"Do you like animals?" asked Lloyd who looked over the scene with an approving eye.

Ranma thought for a moment, "Well, I'm not much of a cat person," he shivered a bit at this, "But I kinda like dogs." He had never owned a pet on the road but he was already starting to like Noishe.

"Noishe seems quite comfortable around you. He usually doesn't trust this easily." Lloyd commented.

They reached the outskirts of the forest where Noishe abruptly ran off, "What's up with him?" he asked.

"I think that he's afraid of fiends. Don't worry, we'll see him again." He took a quick look around and drew his wooden blade, "Were gonna have to fight some fiends, think your up to it?"

Ranma surveyed the monsters in front of them blocking the path they were walking on, "Bring it." He said.

They arrived some time later at Lloyd's house. It was a moderately sized 2-story house with an adjoining corral which was inhabited by Noishe. Ranma also noticed there was a single grave which was apparently made out to Anna, Lloyd's mother.

Lloyd motioned Ranma inside his house. Inside he saw what looked like a smithy complete with anvil and furnace. Various pieces of equipment hung across the walls, mostly hammers and tongs but there was also a few swords and pieces of armor. The smith himself was standing just barely above an anvil that he was working on with. Despite his height he was swinging the metal smith hammer he had like a toy. He didn't seem to notice them until Lloyd spoke up.

"Hey dad I'm home." Spoke Lloyd.

The dwarf looked up from his work and took in their appearances while wiping his brow, "Welcome back Lloyd, how was school today?" He spoke with a slight Scottish accent.

"It was awesome!" Said Lloyd excitedly, "I was able to help Colette receive the oracle."

"Nice of you to help her. I heard about the desian attack on the temple and wondered if you were ok."

Lloyd indicated Ranma, "Ranma here took out most of them before Colette, Genis, and I even arrived."

"Well met Ranma! Names Dirk." He extended his hand towards Ranma who took off his gauntlet and accepted it. He was mildly surprised to find that Dirk had a huge amount of strength in his handshake.

"Likewise." Said Ranma.

"He doesn't have a place to stay so I was wondering if he could bunk here for the night." Said Lloyd.

"I don't see a problem with that," said Dirk. He noticed Ranma's un-gauntleted hand had a keyless exsphere on it before Ranma replaced the gauntlet.

Ranma withdrew the bag of coins that Kratos gave him and presented some to Dirk who only held up his hand in a stop gesture, "It's on the house lad. Consider it repayment for helping Lloyd today."

"I really don't like to freeload," said Ranma uncertainly.

Dirk had encountered people like Ranma before and knew that Ranma was going to feel guilty if he stayed for free so Dirk gave him an alternative, "Well lad, if you insist on paying for something, you can pay me to make you a key crest for your exsphere."

Ranma had forgotten about that but quickly remembered. He reached into the bag and withdrew about three quarters of the gold he received from Kratos, "If it's not to much trouble could you make me some armor as well?" he asked.

Dirk looked over the money offered. It was quite a generous amount, "All right, you got yourself a deal. I'll get started right after dinner."

Dinner was a very basic but very well made meal of meat stew and rice. Ranma treated them all to a show of the Saotome speed eating. It was almost a full 5 minutes before anyone said anything.

As Ranma reached for the serving platter again Dirk grabbed his arm and said, "Slow down a bit lad, the food aint going to walk off your plate now."

Afterwards Ranma did make an effort to eat at a semi-normal pace. At dinner they exchanged stories. Ranma told about his home world and escape from the human ranch finally ending with Martel Temple. Dirk was a little concerned about the desians coming to claim him but he decided not to voice his worries out loud. Day after tomorrow he would be gone from the village on the journey of regeneration, what could happen? After hearing about Genis and his magic wheel he also made a mental note to make Ranma's armor particularly resistant to fire.

Dirk was also sickened by Genma's abusive treatment of Ranma. After Ranma got done with the 5th training exercise Dirk had made a silent vow to place Genma's head on the anvil if he ever got ahold of him. When he finished his story Dirk spoke to Ranma, "He may be your father and all but you are lucky to be away from him."

Ranma was starting to hear this more and more. He was also starting to agree with them. Genma did nothing beyond teaching the basics of martial arts to Ranma and sold him off to feed his fat stomach.

Dirk and Lloyd then began telling Ranma about the land of Sylvarant and the journey of regeneration. Mana was the lifeblood of the planet. Without it, crops wouldn't grow, rain wouldn't fall and the land would be overrun by desians. The chosen would go on a journey of regeneration to restore mana to the land for a time. Apparently the last chosen had failed the journey, killed by the desians, and the land was in desperate need of regeneration.

All this firmed Ranma's desire to become part of the journey to help not only Colette but everyone in the land of Sylvarant. Dirk continued, helped along some by Lloyd, telling him that the chosen would make a journey to all the seals and then finally go to the tower of salvation to regenerate the world.

Finally after finishing the meal Ranma and Lloyd were tired from the days events. Dirk ushered them to the upstairs room where two beds awaited, assuring Ranma his equipment would be done by morning.

Ranma lay awake for a while thinking about how the day had gone. 'Well I'm making a good start in the new world he thought' and with that he went to sleep.

Ranma awoke peacefully for the first time since he was 6. Ever since his dad took him on the training trip for 10 years he had always been awakened by a kick to the stomach or a throw off a cliff.

It was still early so Ranma decided to do his morning practice. Just because he was in a strange new world was not an excuse to slack off in his training. After yawning a few times and doing some stretches he went downstairs fully awake. He was shocked to find that Dirk was already up, either that or he hadn't gone to bed. He was putting the finishing touches on a set of pale blue armor.

"Did you stay up all night?" asked Ranma, amazed that someone would be that dedicated to making a set of armor.

"Nothing to it," said Dirk dismissively, "It comes with the business and it gives you time to try it out. I also made you a new pair of gauntlets." He pointed to a pair of shiny steel gauntlets.

"That wasn't part of the deal," stated Ranma, "There must be some way that I can repay you for those."

"Just hand over your old ones. I can reuse the metal in them," said Dirk with finality, "Now lets see you try it on." He handed the armor to Ranma who accepted wordlessly.

The armor consisted of a light plate mail type. It would give the wearer moderate protection while not restricting movement with it's weight. Dirk had also made him a set of sturdy leather boots. He told Ranma that he was going to be traveling on foot a lot and needed a proper set of shoes for the journey. Ranma could hardly argue with that.

Ranma turned to go outside of the house but Dirk stopped him, "Don't forget this." He held up the completed key crest for his exsphere. With a bit of help he was able to attach it firmly to the exsphere so that it was no longer touching his skin.

"Say Dirk, Lloyd said that this thing," he indicated the exsphere now attached to the key crest, "increased a humans power or something like that."

Dirk seemed to think about his words before he said them, "Yes and no. The exsphere helps are dormant abilities and skills to awaken. Some might consider it a free power up but the abilities still come from inside you."

Whatever Dirk said Ranma still felt as though it were a free power up and he didn't really support those. He moved to take the exsphere and key crest off but was stopped by Dirk's hand.

"You are a true martial artist, wishing to get by on sill alone and not by free power ups but consider this, every desian that you face is going to have an exsphere. You can think of this as putting you on level with them." Ranma still did not looked convinced so Dirk finally said, "If you don't want to do it yourself then can you do it for Colette? She will need all the help she can get, free power or not."

Ranma finally gave in and promised to keep the exsphere, for Colette, if not himself.

Ranma went outdoors to the field to practice. The armor was already becoming a second skin to him for he could hardly notice its weight. He was soon doing advanced katas with just as much grace and speed as before.

The boots took a little more time to get used to, though not much. He usually didn't wear shoes at all when he fought or when he did, he went for comfort to save himself any unneeded sores on his feet. Dirk knew what he was doing, however, and made the boots well padded on the inside. Who would have thought that he was a great leather worker as well as a smith?

An hour later Dirk called him in to breakfast. He was greeted there by a tired Lloyd who was just getting up. Lloyd noticed his new armor and nodded approvingly while saying, "Looks good dad, good job."

Breakfast, like dinner, was a simple but delicious meal of omelets and bacon. Ranma was once again shocked at the cooking skills Dirk seemed to possess. He silently wondered what else the dwarf could do.

After breakfast Dirk pushed some basic school supplies towards Ranma who groaned.

"Ya may be leavin tomorrow but you know right well that the professor is going along with you. You don't be wanting to miss school with you at her mercy." Lloyd unconsciously shivered, probably remembering the injury she had dealt him yesterday.

Ranma couldn't blame him. If yesterday was any indication of her usual behavior he was in for a long trip, it was best not to get her angry before the journey even started. He nodded affirmative to Dirk who threw him and Lloyd a packed lunch.

"We have 10 minutes to get to class," commented Lloyd as they were walking away from Dirk's house, "Race you there!" and with that, he took off with a pace that would rival Ranma's speed.

Ranma was also impressed with his speed. He may be below Kratos and him but he sure could move fast, he ran hard to catch up with him and slackened his pace once he reached him.

Several fiends who were awaiting them on the path were shocked to see two blurs, one blue the other red, run at them with a pace seemingly impossible for a human. They charged straight through all of the fiends, knocking quite a few several yards away.

They got to the classroom with 2 minutes to spare. Raine greeted them as they got in, "Ranma Saotome, nice to see that you will be attending class here," she turned to Lloyd, "And it is also nice to see you on time for the 2nd time this year." This comment was met with a few sniggers from the class.

"Thanks professor." Said Lloyd obliviously.

Lloyd took his seat and Ranma walked to the front of the room and introduced himself, "I'm Ranma Saotome and I'm from er…" he paused for a second not sure how to continue, "… out of town." He finished lamely. This however seemed to be acceptable to Raine and she assigned him a seat between Lloyd and Genis.

The discussion started with geography, mostly relating to the chosen's journey. Ranma and Lloyd stayed awake for the entire part of this lesson, for it was going to be of importance on the journey but as soon as the discussion changed to mathematics it only took about 2 minutes for him to fall asleep. Raine picked up an eraser from the board that Ranma noticed was labeled "Lloyd" and threw it at him, hitting him square in the head.

"Please pick up your water buckets and stand at the back of the class." The way she said it made it sound like it was a usual occurrence, not to mention the buckets were already full and also labeled Lloyd.

Ranma was able to last through mathematics but was similarly asleep by the time that she reached English. Raine looked surprised for a second but then she went to her desk and took out another eraser and a black pen and wrote "Ranma" on it and then chucked it at him.

Still asleep, Ranma raised his right hand and caught the eraser and continued sleeping. Raine was shocked but quickly recovered throwing pens, chalk and another eraser but all of them were deflected by Ranma's seemingly automatic response. The whole class, even Lloyd who just woke up when a stray piece of chalk hit him, was watching him now.

Still betraying no anger Raine went over to Lloyd and took one of his buckets, walked over to where Ranma and Genis, who vacated the seat when he saw the bucket, was sitting and promptly emptied the contents onto the still sleeping Ranma.

Ranma instantly jolted awake and got into an aggressive stance, kicking over a few chairs in the process, but relaxed when he saw who it was, "What did ya do that for?" he protested.

Raine still seemed unfazed by the stance or question, merely saying, "I would appreciate it if you did not sleep in class. Please grab two buckets and stand in the back of the class." Raine walked back to the front of the class and resumed teaching as if nothing had happened.

Afterwards both Ranma and Lloyd were able to stay awake for another 10 minutes before finally falling asleep while standing up. Raine decided to give it up for a lost cause, at least until the chosen's journey began. Then she would have the time to properly educate Ranma Saotome.

Even though he was sleeping, Ranma could still feel a shiver crawl up his spine for some reason.

The rest of the school day was uneventful save for Raine throwing another bucket of water on Ranma because he started snoring. Ranma thought the class was a complete waste of time. Except for the chosen's journey he wasn't interested in the things that professor Raine talked about.

"Say Ranma, would you like to come and train with me? That's what I usually do after school."

Ranma was itching to get out and practice with his new equipment on some enemies so he agreed. With Genis and Colette in tow they proceeded to leave the village but they were stopped by the guards.

"Lloyd Irving, you have a message from the mayor." Said the guard.

"From the mayor? What is it?"

"He asked if any of you had been near the ranch at all and warns you not to go near it."

Colette quickly glanced at Ranma then looked away. Genis, Ranma noticed, had turned a slightly brighter shade of white.

"Nope, none of us had been near the ranch or ever plan to." Said Lloyd and the guard let them pass.

Lloyd went out to the middle of the field and took a bottle from his pack. He opened it and placed it in the center of the field. The bottle released a dark smoke.

"What's that?" asked Ranma.

"That's a dark bottle." Genis responded, "It attracts enemies to it."

"I thought we could use a little warm up since your probably sore from standing in class all day." Said Lloyd

Ranma agreed while preparing himself for a fight. Already he could see enemies zeroing in on their position, attracted by the effects of the bottle.

There was only one way to describe the battle that took place. Endless wave meets unmovable force. Approximately 25 enemies attacked the duo (sometimes quadruple if they got past Lloyd and Ranma) in the short time the bottle lasted and approximately 25 enemies fell beneath the combined powers of Lloyd, Ranma, and sometimes Genis and Colette.

Ranma and Lloyd took a quick breather before facing off against eachother. Each person respectfully saluted the other and began. Ranma immediately noticed a difference between Lloyd and Kratos fighting styles with the sword.

While Lloyd was above average of most swordfighters he had met, his skill fell below average. While his good speed and strength might be more than enough to take down the minor enemies they found and most desians, it was far from Kratos level who fought as though the sword was just another part of his body.

Ranma did not go full out on Lloyd, rather he danced around his blows and struck him lightly when he left an opening. Rather then get angry at this, Lloyd took this as a cue to tighten his defenses and try to attack with more speed, if not more force.

After about 10 minutes of this exercise Ranma jumped over Lloyd's head and swept his legs out from under him. Lloyd got up and bowed to Ranma who did it in return.

"Thanks for the practice session." Said Lloyd. Even though it was brief, Lloyd felt like he had learned something from Ranma.

Colette turned to go back to her house after saying her goodbyes. Ranma and Lloyd turned to the entrance of Iselia Forest but they were stopped by Genis, "Hey Lloyd could I come with you part of the way?"

"Sure, but why?" Asked Lloyd

"I…er…want to visit a friend of mine." He finished lamely.

"Oh I didn't think you had any friends outside of the village except for me." Said Lloyd.

"Sure you can come with us." Finished Ranma. He didn't think it would be that big of a deal if he did.

Ranma and company walked through the forest casually beating off any enemies they encountered. They had ceased to be even a nuisance a long time ago, however this world seemed to produce a never ending supply of fiends that were out for their blood, no matter how weak they were.

When Lloyd had lead Ranma to his house yesterday he had memorized the route so he was a little concerned when he saw Genis take a path that was branching off to the left, "Hey Genis, that's the way to the ranch, wouldn't this be in violation of the non-aggression treaty?"

"The desians already violated the treaty when they attacked the temple! Besides, this will only take a minute." argued Genis.

Lloyd bowed before superior intellect, "Alright but I'm coming with you."

"This could get ugly, I'll come too." Put in Ranma.

Genis led them back to the place that Ranma had hoped never to see again, Iselia Human Ranch. Genis led them off to the left of the front gate where one of the prisoners were waiting. Ranma was shocked to see that it was Marble.

"Marble!" exclaimed Genis running up, "How are you? I saved you some of my lunch."

"It is nice to see you again Genis," she said as she took the food and ate it slowly. She took in his other two companions, "You must be Lloyd, Genis has told me so much about you."

"Nice to meet you." Said Lloyd politely.

"Ah, Ranma. I didn't expect to see you here again."

"You two knew eachother?" asked Genis

"We were cellmates." Explained Ranma.

"Yes, you caused quite an uproar with your escape. The security guards have been in quite a foul mood lately. I believe it was triple guard duty for 3 weeks." She chuckled softly.

"Yeah well serves them right for not paying attention." Said Ranma nonchalant.

As Marble finished the sandwich that Genis brought her Lloyd noticed a gem embedded in her right hand, "You have an exsphere!" he exclaimed.

Marble looked at the back of her hand before saying unconcernedly, "Oh so that's what this silly thing is. What does it do?"

Lloyd then proceeded to give his lecture on exspheres. He may have had no talent for academic work but he could tell you anything about those gems and he could talk about it like it came from a textbook. Ranma wasn't really listening, he had heard it before.

When Lloyd was done, Genis asked him if his dad could make a key crest. Lloyd agreed saying that he would ask his dad. Ranma however, was looking past them at the guards approaching, "Guys we gotta get outta here fast!" he whispered loudly.

"Hey old woman, what do you think your doing over there!" shouted one of the guards.

"I'm sorry I'll get back to work right away." She moved past them but was held up by another guard.

"Who were you talking to?" he asked

"There was no one there." She responded

"Hmm, I don't think that she's being completely honest with us." Said the third, "Take her out back and make her talk."

The trio had caught the whole guards conversation. "Quick we need to see what's happening!" whispered Genis.

"Right," said Lloyd. He pointed to some cliffs over to the right of the gate, "We can climb up there."

Ranma remained silent. He already knew what was happening to her, having seen more than one person suffer the same fate. He followed them up the cliffs which conveniently formed a series of low jumps to the top.

When they got to the top they witnessed the three desians with their whips out taking turns hitting Marble in the back. The weak cloth of the ranch was torn and there were several red marks on her back where the whips struck.

"We have to help her!" Genis exclaimed.

Lloyd closed his eyes in thought for a moment then he opened them and spoke, "Alright Genis, cast fireball and try to hit all three guards. I'll run by the gate and jump of the ledge. You make your way back to the village once the guards are distracted. Ranma?"

Ranma took a good look at the gate and noticed something disturbing. On the gate were a pair of security cameras, "I'll take those out." He pointed to the cameras.

Genis readied his spell and Ranma noticed that all nervousness was gone. He was a mask of concentration and determination that betrayed no emotion. He aimed his fireball perfectly and hit all three desians in the back. At the same time Ranma released two weak confidence blasts and took out the cameras. Lloyd jumped on top of the gate and jumped to the ground just as it opened. Lloyd successfully made his leap off of the cliff and lost them.

Unfortunately Genis stumbled and the desians turned around. Ranma silently cursed, he would have to take those two out or the village woul suffer. Ranma despised killing but he couldn't let these two live or word would get back. Ranma jumped from his perch on the cliff and ran towards the two desians catching them by surprise.

Ranma did not think about what he was doing, he thought about the wrongs the desians committed, mercilessly whipping the slaves for the smallest of things, raiding villages and bringing back more humans to their ranch, and finally killing them off after they had stayed a while (at least that was what he thought. He had seen slaves taken away and never return).

Ranma had charged his fist with ki and delivered a lethal punch to one desian's head. The other two turned around and Ranma unleashed a small Demon Blast into another ones heart, leaving a hole going through his chest. The third one actually had time to get his crossbow out before Ranma kicked it out of his hands and used the same foot to kick him in the throat crushing his windpipe.

Task finished, Ranma followed Lloyd's exit by jumping off the cliff to the left of the entrance, just in time too because the reinforcements were arriving. The cliff was easily 40 feet high but Ranma softened his fall with ki. Coupled with his training and exsphere the fall did little damage, except to the ground around him.

Lloyd had met him at the bottom, "I take it that your jumping off the cliff means that things did not go well."

"No worries, I took out the ones that saw me." Ranma tried to act casual but he was still shaken from what he had done. The desians may have deserved it but Ranma would never enjoy killing humans, or half elves for that matter.

They were quickly joined by Genis who had made it down the hill finally, "That was a little close." Said Genis out of breath.

"Don't worry," said Lloyd speaking for Ranma, "He took out the ones that saw us and none of them saw our faces."

"Thanks a lot Lloyd, you may have saved Marble's life." Said Genis. He looked at the sky and noticed the sun setting, "I have to get home, see you tomorrow at noon, there's no school tomorrow." He walked out of the forest and back to the village.

"We should get heading back to Dirk's place as well." Said Lloyd.

Ranma, still mulling over what had just happened, was surprised when they found the exit to the forest blocked by none other than Kratos. He gave no explanation to why he was there, he only asked that Ranma speak to him for a moment. Ranma accepted slightly confused while Lloyd waited at the entrance.

"I am glad to see you well after your little adventure at the ranch." He said.

'How could he have been there without me noticing?' he thought shocked.

Kratos seemed to read his mind, "It's a stealth technique that I picked up in my travels. With practice you can mask your aura but that's not what's important right now."

"Ranma," he started his tone suddenly becoming more serious, "Do you know what the difference is between a warrior and a martial artist?"

Ranma nodded, he had learned the philosophy from one of his many teachers in the martial arts. Though they seemed the same they were worlds apart.

"When you go on this journey, you will have to be a warrior and not just a martial artist. While a martial artist may go for a knockout and try and put down his opponents in the least forceful manner, a warrior knows that sometimes despite what you may do, may have to use lethal force."

Ranma nodded his head in understanding, feeling a little reassured.

"I am not stating that you have to enjoy killing. It is your humanity and reluctance to kill that sets you apart from people like desians who kill for fun and pleasure. Never forget that." And with that he walked away leaving Ranma with his thoughts.

"So what did he want?" asked Lloyd grumpily. He held a grudging respect for Kratos and his skills but not much else.

"That time at the ranch," he began in a hollow tone, "Was the first time that I killed someone."

Lloyd nodded in understanding and spoke in a rare moment of wisdom, "It was hard for me too. Couldn't get out of my room for two whole days I was depressed until Dirk came and consoled me saying that killing was sometimes necessary but you never had to enjoy it."

Ranma smiled a bit at this, "Kratos said the same thing."

"I hate to admit it but the guys right." Commented Lloyd, "We are probably going to be encountering a lot of less than friendly people on the road so we better be prepared." Ranma felt a pang of guilt as he talked about the chosen's journey.

Ranma was feeling a lot better now although he would never like killing, "Thanks Lloyd."

"No problem," Ranma and Lloyd's stomachs chose this moment to alert their masters that they were due for dinner, "Race you home!" Lloyd shouted and took off towards Dirk's house, Ranma trailing behind.

A/N: Finally, a new chapter is up. I would have gotten it sooner but my mom has taken the computer memory down to 1 gig with her digital camera and now she works day and night to take the pictures off the computer and onto discs. This has give me very little time to type unfortunately…

Inu-Yasha: Well you have time now so you should stop ranting and start typing your next chapter.

ClanCrusher: What the heck are you doing here? You aren't even in this story!

Inu-Yasha: Yeah but anyone can come in during the authors note.

Sailor Scouts: In the name of love and justice we will punish you demon!

ClanCrusher: Oh boy.

Robin: There's the fanged demon! Teen Titans Go!

Ryoga: Who me? Can you tell me where I am?

The rest of NWC: Ranma prepare to die!

Mallet-sama: Lloyd no Baka! (Guess who?)

Pluto: You are all threats to crystal Tokyo. You must die!

ClanCrusher: Well I'm getting the heck outta here. (Ducks under a table as a fire ball nearly hits him)

On a more serious note I still want your reviews, comments, criticisms, etc. I cant live without them. Next time on Ranma of Symphonia "The Journey Begins" or it will if they don't kill me first.

Trigger Happy Mallet Girl: ClanCrusher No BAKA!


	38. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Oh for crying out loud are you still taking the time to read this? Well then your wasting your time because there is never anything new here. If you want to read a good disclaimer there are approximately 6838 disclaimers in the Ranma section and about 115 in the Misc. section. You can read those if you really have to read a disclaimer. Why are you still reading this? The story is much more interesting, read that!

Ranma- You're really lazy you know that?

ClanCrusher- Yeah and if I had a dollar for every brain you didn't have, I'd have one whole dollar.

Ranma- Huh?

ClanCrusher- Never mind. On with the adventure!

Forcystus looked over the cliff near the ranch with an apprising eye. He wondered to himself just how a mere human could have made that kind of jump, "Analyze the data from the gate surveillance system." He commanded one of his officers.

"Sir," he responded hesitantly, "The gate system has been damaged beyond repair."

So they had noticed the cameras installed on the gate, how observant, "Did you interrogate the prisoner?"

"Yes sir. She has remained silent about the incident."

This was getting to be an annoyance. First they had let that valuable prisoner escape. He had gotten quite a tongue lashing from his superiors about that. Apparently he was supposed to be involved in a classified project.

He should have known something was up when he found the holding cell where Ranma had been imprisoned damaged but he wrote it off as damages due to time. It was a real blow to his pride. He could still remember having to show the video to his superiors (See ya, suckers!) who threatened to remove him from his position.

Examining the bodies of the three soldiers dead outside his ranch he saw that two of them were dead by an instrument of blunt trauma. He slowly formulated a theory in his head, if Ranma was powerful enough to damage the floors of the ranch then he could also be behind this attack, the tools were the same after all. And if he was still around then the only place he could be…

"Inform the captain that we will be conducting a raid on Iselia Village. Make sure you both gather your squad of troops."

"Yes sir." He responded before running off to find the other captain.

Ranma was awake and getting ready to leave quietly. He still didn't like lying to Lloyd but he followed the wishes of Kratos and Colette and did not tell Lloyd the real time the chosen's group was leaving. Since there was no school, Lloyd was making a good impression of Ranma sleeping.

Equipping his gauntlets, Ranma headed quietly downstairs so as not to wake anyone, but was brought up short by Dirk who was wide awake and waiting for him, "She gave him the wrong time didn't she." It wasn't really a question.

Ranma didn't know quite how to respond to this question but Dirk held up his hand, "I'll tell him when he wakes up. You should be gone by then, good luck on the journey."

Ranma nodded his silent thanks to Dirk and as an afterthought left the rest of the money Kratos gave him on the table before leaving the house. It was still about 9:00 by estimate of the sun so Ranma took his time going through the woods. When he passed the path to the human ranch he heard some activity going on there. He decided not to worry about it for now.

Ranma reached Iselia Village with 10 minutes to spare. Kratos, Raine, and Colette were already there waiting for him.

"Are you ready to leave?" asked Raine.

"We must be going quickly. The desians might try something before we leave," Said Kratos.

"I'm ready," assured Ranma.

Without further ado, the party of four walked out of the village. Some of the villagers who were watching the proceeding waved to Colette one last time before going back to their daily lives. No one noticed Genis slip away from the crowd.

It wasn't until a half hour later that Ranma learned one of the important truths about the journey of regeneration, it was going to involve a lot of walking. Aside from occasional battles with brave (or very foolish) fiends there was hardly any excitement involved. The only upside was that Kratos was continually critiquing Ranma's fights.

"Don't shout out the name of your attacks! It gives the enemy time to prepare for it!" he said in one battle when Ranma released a Demon Blast at a worm like creature.

In another fight when Ranma started using his confidence to project his ki Kratos said, "Don't use emotion based ki, if you do then you will start projecting that emotion in all things including your attitude."

Ranma was starting to get bored with these fights but when he started to relax Kratos told him, "Don't slack off, your being GRADED for these fights you know."

This statement brought Ranma up short, "Graded, by who?"

Kratos thought about that for a moment then responded, "Hmm, not quite sure but that's no reason to slack off."

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Kratos was making him battle every set of fiends they found on the way. They always seemed to be in groups of two or three at a time and Kratos was making Ranma fight them all.

"There will be times on this journey when you will be facing hordes of fiends. You need to pace yourself so that you don't run out of energy fighting the first few groups." He explained.

Occasionally some of the fiends would get through Kratos and Ranma to attack Colette and Raine. Kratos had told Ranma that Colette and Raine would be near useless in a fight and he was right up to a point.

Raine was the moral equivalent of a cleric, she was a good spell caster and had a much better aim then Genis but her offense was near zero. Apparently like Genis, her weapon was used more as a focus rather than a weapon.

Colette was a bit different, her weapons were good at a distance but they did minimal damage to the enemy. She also had a slight problem of falling over all the time in battle, coincidently this also helped her avoid most of the enemies attacks. One time she tripped and thrust her hands out to break her fall, but there was an enemy in front of her. Her weapons that were still in her hand cut into the wolf's head and killed it.

After a couple hours walking, the chosen's group came upon a single house, "That," explained Kratos, "Is one of the many Houses of Salvation scattered across Sylvarant. They provide a place to rest, a haven from fiends, and supplies for travelers."

The House of Salvation was of a simple design. It had two stories to it, the first held the shrine and the single shop while the second story had several beds which could be rented for cheap rates.

Despite the cheep rates, Raine and Kratos wanted to make Triet by nightfall so they decided to press on. Eventually the grasslands and forests gave way to a huge desert. The fiends also started to change and the party had to watch out for various enemies like snakes and scorpions which could inflict fast acting poison. Fortunately Kratos had brought along several antidotes called 'Panacea' to counteract the poison.

During the hike Ranma noticed that Colette didn't talk much, she seemed to be slipping into a depression of sorts so Ranma decided to talk to her.

"What's wrong Colette?" asked Ranma

Colette immediately tried to look happy, "Oh nothing," she said smiling.

"It's about Lloyd isn't it?"

Colette's smile faded from her face, "I just feel bad about lying to him, he seemed so eager to come along too."

Ranma figured it would be something like this, "Don't worry about him."

"Why not?"

"Just like he said back at the temple, 'I'll just follow you on my own then,'" said Ranma. He knew it was true too. There was no way that the mayor, Kratos or anyone would stop him from coming along.

Colette whispered so quietly that Ranma had to strain to hear her say, "I hope your right."

It was then that they finally reached Triet, the desert village.

Lloyd awoke an hour before noon to an empty room. He wasn't concerned though, Ranma had a morning ritual where he trained in the morning and probably wouldn't be back until breakfast. Lloyd took the time to finish the necklace that he was making for Colette.

He went downstairs and after eating a quickly made breakfast of fried rice and eggs, went outside. He found Dirk out by his mothers grave.

"I packed a few things for you that you can use on your journey, I also made the key crest that you wanted, do what you want with it. Just remember that I tried to stop you."

"Thanks dad," said Lloyd. He remembered back to the night where he made his request for Marble.

FLASHBACK

"I'm back dad!"

"Welcome home, Lloyd and Ranma."

Lloyd immediately got to the point, "Say dad is there any chance that you could make a key crest? I saw someone today who had an exsphere without a mount."

Dirk was a little suspicious, "And who had this exsphere?" he asked.

"It was… a traveling merchant." He invented

"Baloney!" exclaimed Dirk, "Exspheres are generally used only by desians. If he stole one from a desian it should already have a mount on it."

He walked out from behind his anvil and continued, "Dwarven vow #11, lying is the first step towards the path of thievery. Tell me the truth now, who had the exsphere."

Lloyd sighed and hung his head in defeat, "It was someone who was at the human ranch."

"You went to the ranch?" shouted Dirk, "You didn't let them see your exsphere right?"

"It's ok dad," said Lloyd quickly trying to defuse his dad's temper, "I didn't even let any of them see my face, besides why do I have to keep this hidden anyway? The mercenary that I met today wore his right out in the open."

"Your exsphere is special, it was your mothers keepsake. She died defending it from the desians."

This shocked Lloyd to the core, he had always thought that his mother had died in an accident, "All this time and you didn't tell me? Why?" He demanded.

"Because I knew that if I told you then you would try and get revenge on the desians. Your mother protected you with her life, don't go throwing that away."

"So will you make me the key crest?"

"Have you been listening to a word that I've been saying?"

"Yes but now that I know the truth you cant expect me to sit here and do nothing!" With that Lloyd stomped off to his room. Ranma followed him.

Ranma found Lloyd out on the terrace overlooking the house. He began speaking without looking at Ranma, "All this time I thought she had died in an accident when she was really slaughtered by desians."

Ranma sighed. He was never really good at these kind of talks but he had to try, "Lloyd, don't you think that what Dirk said had some fact to it?"

"He did but I wish that he told me the truth from the beginning."

"If you had known that could you honestly say that you would do nothing? You said it yourself that you wouldn't."

Lloyd grumbled, he got trapped by his own words, "Your right, I really cant hold that against him," he seemed to brighten a bit when he said, "I guess that I'll just have to complete the journey with Colette, that will get rid of the desians once and for all."

Ranma felt another pang of guilt about the journey, "One last thing I think you should know, in one of his more serious moments my pop said to never let revenge control my life, cause if you ever succeed then you will have nothing left."

Lloyd sighed in acceptance, "Your right Ranma. I'll help Colette to the end and if any desians cross my path it will be worse for them."

END FLASHBACK

"Dwarven vow #2, never abandon someone in need, I'm just following the teachings. And Lloyd," he stopped for a minute then said, "I am honored that you call a dwarf like me your father. If you ever get tired, you have a home here."

Lloyd tried to find the right words to say to his father but he was saved the trouble when he spoke again, "I know you were never one for sentimentality, you don't need to worry just get to the village."

Putting two fingers to his mouth Lloyd whistled and Noishe came running up to him, surprisingly followed by Genis, "Lloyd where have you been?" he practically shouted.

"Genis, great news! I got dad to make Marble's key crest.

"That's great and all but what about going with Colette?"

"You mean she already left?"

"Ranma, Kratos, Raine and Colette left two hours ago!"

"Lloyd, quickly! Get to the village." Said Dirk

"Right." Lloyd jumped on Noishe's back and pulled Genis up behind him.

They left Noishe at the front gate and hurried to the village. The village militia informed Lloyd that Frank and Phaidra wanted to talk to them so they hurried towards Colette's house.

Lloyd didn't bother to knock, he opened the door and asked Frank, "Is it true? Did Colette leave already?"

"Yes, Colette left some time ago. She asked me to give you this letter." Lloyd took the letter and read out loud.

Dear Lloyd,

By the time you read this I will have already have left on my journey. I'm sorry for lying to you. The world regeneration journey is full of peril and many chosens have failed.

I care about you too deeply to get involved. I'm going to do my best to stop the monsters and the desians so I want you to live a happy and peaceful life in the regenerated world.

Thank you so much for your friendship and kindness all these years. I'm really lucky to have met you.

Farwell,

Colette

"What is this?" asked Lloyd, "This sounds like a will!" 

"You could call it that." Said Frank.

"What do you mean?" asked Genis.

Frank sighed and said, "There is something that we have hid from you and everyone in the village. Colette's journey is-"

All of a sudden a loud explosion sounded from outside, "Quickly! Go see what's happening!" exclaimed Phaidra

Lloyd and Genis ran out of the house and were greeted with red skies. Several houses in the village were on fire and small fires were starting in other places. Several desians were in the town square while some others were starting fires on the other untouched buildings. Two desians had cornered one of the militia in front of the schoolhouse.

Lloyd blindly charged at the two desians catching them by surprise. Before they could even turn around Lloyd had stuck both swords into one of the desians back killing him instantly. Three balls of fire hit the other desian right in the face blinding him. He stumbled backwards towards the human guard, tripped and fell backwards right onto the man's pitchfork.

Lloyd ignored the man struggling to remove the desian from the end of his weapon, "Is everyone in the school?" he asked.

The man finally kicked the corpse from his weapon, "There are still some people in center of town."

Genis and Lloyd ran off to the center of town where the highest concentration of desians were. The mayor was there and so were a couple of village guards.

"Ranma Saotome come forth!" The speaker was uniquely dressed. He had an eye patch and a long gold colored cylinder in place of an arm which looked to be a gun. His clothes were not of the regular desian make so he was apparently higher ranked.

At that moment, the red clad warrior and the magic user ran in front of the mayor. The man spoke again, "Listen up inferior beings! I am Forcystus, one of the five grand cardinals of the human ranches where we cultivate you pathetic humans. You have been charged with harboring prisoner F197 Ranma Saotome and communicating with prisoner F192. We find this to be in violation of the non aggression treaty and I hereby bring judgment upon this village."

"You have the nerve to attack the chosen at the temple and claim that we have violated the non-aggression treaty?" shouted Lloyd.

"What are you talking about?" asked one of the captains. He was easy to identify because he had a full helm and a staff which was decorated by gold ornaments.

"You mean you weren't the ones to attack the temple?" asked Lloyd confused.

"I see. _They_ must have been after the chosen." Said the captain.

"They?"

"I have no need to explain myself to the likes of you. We have prepared a fitting punishment for your crimes."

A loud thumping was heard and then a green monster approached the village. It was twice as tall as a normal human and had arms that reached the ground. Its face was comprised of a single gem and it was wearing the outfit that was worn by the prisoners of the ranch.

"What the hell is that!" shouted Lloyd but he didn't have time to respond as he put up his arms to ward of a strike from the monster. It didn't hurt that much but it knocked of the bandage that covered his exsphere. Lloyd and Genis drew their respective weapons and battle was joined.

Genis immediately retreated to the back and chanted a spell while Lloyd ran to confront the enemy. Fortunately it was slow, unfortunately when it did hit, it hit hard. Lloyd dodged the creatures downward strike and proceeded to slash it's midsection. He did not see the follow up strike that sent him airborne.

Lloyd flipped over in midair and landed on his feet right as Genis cast lightning. The thing didn't seem to have any ranged attacks so Lloyd and Genis unloaded spells and Demon Fangs respectively. After a few seconds of this the thing grabbed its head and twitched as though it were in agony. Lloyd moved in to finish the thing off.

This proved to be a mistake. Just as Lloyd was about to land his first strike a black aura surrounded the beast, burning to the touch (this is the move Insane Cell for those of you who are confused). He was in range however and was in terrible pain for a while, fortunately it only lasted a few seconds.

Trying his best to ignore the pain Lloyd charged his blade with chi and drove it straight into the monsters chest so hard that it protruded from the other side. He then took his second sword and drove it straight into the monsters neck. At that minute Genis shouted, "Lightning" and hit the metal part of both Lloyd's swords.

The creature fell over, presumably dead and Lloyd retrieved his swords from the monster. He noticed there was an exsphere in the head of the creature.

"Lord Forcystus it's just as you thought! That boy has an exsphere!" exclaimed the desian captain.

Forcystus eye widened in shock, "That's the exsphere from the angelus project, give it to me!" The other desians started to close in around Lloyd and Genis.

"No!" shouted Lloyd, "This belongs to my mom which you desians murdered!"

Forcystus looked genuinely confused at this, "What are you talking about? Your mother…"

He was cut off by the monster gaining it's second wind. It stood up behind Forcystus and wrapped it's arms around him. And then a voice sounded from it, like it was in agony and it took all of it's effort to say it, "Run… away… Genis. Lloyd…"

"Th…that sounds like Marble!" exclaimed Genis.

"No, it cant be."

The thing, or Marble, spoke again, "Get…away. Hurry. You… were always like a grandson to me… Genis."

The creature was briefly surrounded by a white light and then an explosion knocked everyone in the immediate area off their feet. Forcystus caught the worst of it and fell to the ground in pain. The creature was gone, and all that remained was the exsphere that had been in its head. Genis picked it up.

"Lloyd," Forcystus struggled to get the words out, "As long as you and Ranma hold your exspheres we will always come after you." He was immediately surrounded by his guards who made a hasty retreat out of the village.

Lloyd saw that Genis was still holding the exsphere. Withdrawing the key crest his dad made him he handed it to Genis, "Why don't you wear it in memory of Marble?"

A few tears fell from Genis eyes as he accepted it, "Thanks Lloyd. I will."

It was about this time that the mayor received his second wind, "Look what you did to the village! How many times have we told you not to go to the ranch? Now look what you have done!"

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing that he could think to say.

"You think that you can fix this by apologizing?"

"Your not going to exile him are you?" interrupted Genis, "It was my fault in the first place for taking him to the ranch."

"The desians have made Lloyd their sworn enemy. He cannot be allowed to remain."

"Fine if your going to exile him then your going to have to do it to me too."

The mayor seemed taken aback for a second but then firmed in his resolve, "Fine. By the rights vested in me as mayor I herby sentence Lloyd, Genis, and Ranma to exile from this village."

The villagers gradually walked off to help put out the fires until only Frank and Phaidra remained, "I'm sorry that I caused this," said Lloyd sadly to them.

"If you truly feel that way then catch up with Colette and help her regenerate the world. I am sure that the villagers will surely forgive you if you do that." Said Phaidra.

"I will. Come on Genis lets go," and with that the Drifting Swordsman and the Magic User walked away from the village.

Genis told Lloyd that the first leg of the journey was to the north which was Triet. They decided to head there tomorrow for it was getting to be pretty late. They found a caravan where a girl was happy to give them a place to rest for the night. In the morning they would head to Triet.

A/N: Well this scene was pretty much taken from the game, sue me. Since Ranma already left I didn't really expect it to change that much. In other news I finally got 3000 grade points to help with my writing of the story. Those of you that completed the game know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I still love to hear your reviews, flames, comments, criticism, whatever. It's food for my writing spirit. In other news…

Lloyd- You know I'm never going to understand why you keep doing these author's notes. It's not like it's building the story or anything.

Ranma- Seriously. The longer you keep writing these things the more likely it is to have some un-cute, un-sexy, violent manic tomboy come in here.

Akane- Ranma no BAKA! (Hammer time)

ClanCrusher looks and sees several anime characters entering the studio

ClanCrusher- Not again. (Ducks under the moon tiara) Anyway, I plan to update soon if these guys don't kill me first (Tilts his head forward and dodges a bolt from starfire) Oh well, at least these guys will keep away any lawyers.

The camera pans to the outside where a lawyer is looking in shock at the computer that imbedded itself in the front window of his car.

ClanCrusher- Tune in next time for Chapter 8- Captured!


	39. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I'm running out of ideas of how to say that I don't own Ranma ½ or Tales of Symphonia. Just pretend that there is a disclaimer here that would be relatively funny because for the first time, I cant think of anything.

Ranma- Hey ClanCrusher, what's wrong?

ClanCrusher- Hmm. I think that I am suffering from writers block.

Ranma- Here let me help.

-Ranma charges his fist with ki and destroys the block that is on my desk-

ClanCrusher- Wow! Thanks, I feel a whole lot better now!

Ranma- No problem.

ClanCrusher- And without further ado, let us begin chapter 8 of the adventure.

One other thing of note, as you may have noticed in the last story, Lloyd has metal swords. I know in the game that he has wooden ones, but this is fanfiction.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 8 – Captured!**

The Triet desert was created when the legendary spirit known as Efreet went out of control and destroyed the towns and grasslands for miles around, creating the desert. To this day the only town that remains is Triet, primarily because it has the only water source for several miles.

Triet was modestly built with buildings of stone and several makeshift stalls that were selling various items. The inn was easily the largest building, for none of the houses were over one story tall.

"We will rest here for tonight," said Kratos, "I'm going to go get us a room."

Raine turned to them, "Feel free to explore the village, just don't go outside."

Ranma began to walk towards the various stalls when he saw something that made his mind freeze up in pure terror. It was horrible, it was terrible, it was pink, it was THE KATZ TEAM!

Colette was right behind Ranma and noticed his body lock up and tense as if expecting a fight, "What's wrong?" she asked, but she got no answer.

Ranma was visibly shaking by now and starting to attract attention from some of the local shoppers. He was busily trying to convince himself that real cats were not colored pink, did not stand on two legs, or wear clothes, or carry cameras but the Neko-Ken only saw a cat and that put all reason to the winds.

Meanwhile the Katz were looking at this strange human with interest. He seemed afraid of them for some reason so they decided to go and reassure the person that they were harmless and only wanted to help people with their journeys. After all, they never wanted to turn away a potential customer.

As the Katz approached Ranma's fear grew and grew. They were only 5 feet away when Ranma snapped.

"C-C-CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" he screamed and took off with a speed that would put an F-1 racing car to shame.

Colette stood there in shock for a few seconds before one of the Katz spoke, "What's his problem, were KATZ not CATS, sheesh."

Colette ignored him and went in pursuit of the martial artist.

Said martial artist was on the other side of the village cooling down, 'Damn it,' he thought, 'They just had to have not only cats in this world but ones that could walk and talk too!'

It took a few seconds but Ranma was finally able to calm himself down and take a look at his surroundings, which he did not recognize. He saw a tent nearby and decided to ask directions from the person within. When he entered he found a female fortuneteller there.

"Come in, come in," she beckoned, "Would you like your fortune told today?"

"Actually I was just wondering…"

"All will be answered when I look into my crystal ball, don't you worry."

"But I just…" he stopped when he saw she was ignoring him.

She stood motionless for a few minutes with her hand over the crystal ball before finally saying, "I haven't seen an aura like yours in decades, wherever you go great changes will happen, weather for the good or bad is anyone's guess for your aura of chaos and your own choices will ultimately affect the outcome."

'Man that's intense,' thought Ranma, 'What does she mean centuries? She's about 27 years old!'

She continued, "Other than that, your aura blocks any and all possible reading, so I'll only charge you 25 gold this time. Oh and the inn is a ways east of here."

Ranma sweat dropped before grudgingly handing over the money.

As he was walking back to the inn, making a wide detour around the evil felines, he met Colette halfway, "Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked, "What did you father do this time?"

"How could you have ever guessed," he said sarcastically, "I'm going to tell everyone at once so lets get back to the inn."

Back at the inn Ranma had just told the Neko-Ken story. The reactions varied only slightly, Raine was gripping her staff so hard that her knuckles were turning white, Colette exclaimed that Genma was no father and that Ranma should stay away from him. If you had eagle eye vision and you looked very carefully at Kratos you would notice a twitch in his hand and eye.

"You know," said Raine, "I'm all for inflicting corporal punishment when I teach but this is plain stupid."

"Is there anything else that we should know of?" asked Kratos.

"Not that I can think of. All of my other problems are on my world."

No one noticed that a certain professor had gotten a familiar maniac glint in her eye, "You mean that you come from another world?"

Ranma mentally slapped himself in the head. Raine hadn't been around for his brief life story. He really didn't feel like going over this again.

Raine saw the look, "Another time then. Right now it's time for your lesson."

Kratos and Colette quickly excused themselves to do other things around the village. This left him alone with Raine in the room.

"Um… professor?" he quietly asked.

"I'll take questions after the lecture now pay attention," she threw him his textbook which she had brought along.

It was pretty much one of the worst and best teaching sessions he ever had. The worst, being that he actually had to stay awake or suffer Raines holy wrath. Since she was only concentrating on one student it made her job of making him stay awake much easier. It was the best in the sense that Ranma actually learned a few things for the first time in his life besides martial arts.

The session went better then expected for he only had to be hit 27 times throughout the whole 2 hours. Raine looked to Lloyd as a personal academic failure on her part, she would not make the same mistake with Ranma.

After the session was over Ranma went out of the room and into the lobby. He found Kratos there waiting for him with a set of clothes that almost duplicated his current clothes under his armor.

"Put these on," said Kratos tossing him the clothes, "The real training begins now."

Ranma went back into his room in the inn and put the clothes on, surprised at how heavy they felt. He returned to the main room where Kratos was waiting.

"You will wear this clothing every day from when you first get up to when you go to sleep. You will fight, eat, walk, and train in this clothing. When you finally get used to the weight, we add more. During the day you will be the one to carry the company pack as well as your clothes,"

It wasn't anything new for Ranma, except for the weighted clothes. On the training trip Genma made Ranma carry almost everything, however he was unused to fighting with weights.

Kratos continued, "Each morning you will get up at 5:00 for your lesson and you will have an additional lesson at the end of the day. Once Lloyd arrives then he will probably be joining us. The only exception is when we are about to release a seal or other important event."

Ranma stopped short, "Lloyd?"

Kratos looked at him, "Do you really think anything will stop him from coming?"

Ranma took that into consideration, "Not really."

"Good, then lets start with a warm up spar."

The full contact 'spar' lasted for half an hour. Kratos was holding back slightly while Ranma took time to adjust to the weight on his new clothes. Ranma, in the meantime, was having a bit of difficulty keeping up. While weights were nothing new to him he was not used to being burdened so much in battle.

The battle finally ended when Kratos knocked him out. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Kratos had a select brand of smelling salt with a sent that was guaranteed to wake the dead. It instantly woke up Ranma.

"Put this on." Said Kratos tossing Ranma a piece of cloth.

"A blindfold? What for?"

"One of the primary skills that you should learn is detecting ki signatures or auras. This gives you warning in advance if someone is going to attack you from behind or if your vision gets impaired." He explained.

The trick was, as Kratos described it, to extend your senses outward using you ki. Ranma tried it but could barely get a glimmer of the auras. He was however, able to sense a dog for a brief second before it faded from view. After an hour Kratos took the blindfold off saying that was enough for today.

Kratos then fixed him some of his specialized tea which once again made Ranma feel physically better, "What do you put in this tea?" he asked.

"The main ingredient is the essence of the gels that are commonly used for healing. However by a specialized combination of herbs and various spices I found out how to counterbalance the bad taste of the gels," explained Kratos, "It's my homemade elixir."

Ranma really liked the sound of this, "I don't suppose you could teach me how to make it could you?"

"Even if I did the ingredients I use are hard to come by. Also repeated consumption of the elixir could lead to dependency on it and shouldn't be taken more than once every two days."

"If the ingredients are so rare where do you get them?"

"Well that," Kratos began, Ranma leaned in closer as his voice dropped, "Is a secret."

Facefault.

Ever since Ranma was taken on the 10 year training trip, he had never gotten a good nights sleep (well in his opinion anyway), having always been awoken by being thrown or splashed with water. But now that he was in a different dimension…

SPLASH!

Well lets just say some things never change.

"What was that for?" he shouted at Kratos who was holding a now empty bucket.

"We have things to do today and we will not accomplish them if you are sleeping like you are in a coma. This was merely the easiest way to wake you," he said ignoring the murderous look Ranma was giving him.

Ranma got into his clothes and armor and met the group in the main room of the inn where Raine was discussing they should go next.

"…so the most logical place to look would be the ruins south of here." Raine concluded.

Ranma thought for a second before asking, "Kratos, how far away do you think Lloyd is?"

Kratos closed his eyes for a few seconds, "About 2 hours away. Why?"

"Well, I think that someone should wait for him since they're starting to put up wanted posters," he had noticed the posters the day before while exploring the town, "If someone was to tell him where we are going then we can keep him out of the town until things cool down."

"Remarkable foresight. I have no problem with it." Said Kratos.

"I have my moments," said Ranma giving his trademark smirk.

"To bad they're only moments," teased Raine.

Ranma took a few seconds to work that out, "Hey!"

Lloyd and Genis had continued towards Triet after they spent the night at a passing wagon. They were able to make better time than Ranma's group because of Noishe, this also helped them to outrun most enemies that they saw. It was around noon when they appeared at the entrance to Triet.

They were about to enter the city when Ranma dropped right in front of them, Genis let out a shout of surprise but Ranma quickly covered Lloyd's mouth before he could say anything.

"Not here, lets get outside."

Ranma waited for Lloyd's nod before he uncovered his mouth. Ranma led them a little ways from the city before Lloyd finally spoke.

"Okay Ranma, what's going on?"

"Our faces have appeared on some wanted posters and the desians are in the city." Ranma explained.

Lloyd chuckled nervously placing his hand on the back of his head, "Well about that…" Lloyd explained to Ranma about Iselia and Forcystus.

"So what are you doing here anyway? Where's Colette and Raine?" asked Genis.

"They went on ahead to the seal. I volunteered to stay behind and wait for you guys."

"They knew we were coming?" asked Lloyd.

"Well Kratos did anyway. Anyway we should hurry on to the seal of fire. They said it was in the ruins south of here."

"Uh oh. Guys we got company!" shouted Genis. Several thieves had snuck up on them while they were talking.

"Drop the goods and leave and we might let you live," said the Thief who appeared to be their leader.

"We don't have time for this," complained Ranma.

"Hey are you listening?" yelled the leader, "I told you to- URK!"

His sentence was abruptly cut off as he found Ranma's fist in his gut. Ranma picked him up by the throat and threw him into the thieves behind him.

"Anyone else?" asked Ranma nonchalantly.

His response was the remaining thieves charging the trio. Lloyd whipped out his swords to help. The thieves had them outnumbered 2 to 1 but their weapons consisted mainly of knives and their skill was terrible.

Ranma dodged a stab from one and swiftly disarmed him. He then grabbed the guys head and brought it down while simultaneously bringing his knee up. Finally he back kicked with the same leg and hit the thief who was sneaking up from behind.

When Genis had first seen the thugs he had already started quietly chanting a spell, trying his hardest to hide the aura. The result was that two thugs were hit by the lightning spell he cast.

Meanwhile Lloyd had neutralized his two guys as well. The thieves that were alive crawled off the battlefield while the others would become food for the vultures.

"Damnit. Someone must have heard that!" said Lloyd.

"We need to get moving quickly," hastened Ranma.

Several desians had heard the sounds of battle and had run outside the village to see what the noise was. When they saw the two most wanted criminals right in front of them battle was joined once again.

Ranma had just beaten off another desian when he saw a figure with a blue ball of energy in his hand aiming for Lloyd. He let off a Demon Blast but the Desian had already fired. Ranma desperately ran towards Lloyd hoping to push him out of the way but it was to late. Lloyd fell to the ground, stunned.

"Stop fighting now or he'll get hurt!" shouted one desian, his sword near Lloyd's throat. Ranma and Genis didn't see any way out of the situation so they allowed themselves to be shackled and led away.

After an hour of walking (or being carried in Lloyd's case) they came upon the desian's base. The remaining desians were greeted by the guards there and Lloyd and Ranma were taken inside.

"Leave the kid, we don't need him," said one guard.

They released the restraints on him and sent him away. Genis wasted no time in getting away from the base. He knew that he had no chance of rescuing them alone. He needed help of some kind, he needed…

The Chosen's group had just entered Triet ruins when all of a sudden Genis riding Noishe burst into view.

"Ranma and Lloyd have been kidnapped!" he shouted to the group.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Finally, a new chapter up. It took me long enough. My thanks goes to everyone who reviewed my story and stuck with this first time writer. Please, keep reviewing. As for those of you who noticed typos, I plan to fix them once my computer stops disagreeing with me.

Computer- I'll stop contradicting you as soon as you start being right!

ClanCrusher- Damn the computer is trying to talk to me again. This is my cue to go and get some sleep. No more anchovies on my pizza. No sir.

Computer- Idiot.

ClanCrusher- Who are you calling an idiot?


	40. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Man I'm getting depressed. There's only so many ways that you can make fun of a disclaimer and I'm running out of ideas. Oh well, only one thing to do.

(ClanCrusher pulls out an assault rifle and fills the disclaimer with lead. Then he takes a flame thrower and burns the rest of it into ashes. Finally he sweeps up the ashes, throws them in the trash, seals the lid and throws it out the window. The garbage can lands in a garbage truck where it eventually ends up in a landfill, buried, never to be seen again)

ClanCrusher- Well that was therapeutic.

Lloyd and Ranma are looking at ClanCrusher with a shocked expression on their faces

ClanCrusher- What? Something on my face?

(Warning: This fic contains mild swearing)

 **Ranma and the Land of Symphonia**

Chapter 9- Escape 

Ranma and Lloyd were roughly tossed into a jail cell, the latter being unconscious. A few of the guards left while two of them stayed and started talking to eachother before one of them finally left. This left one guard casually walking around the cells.

The guards had taken all of Ranma's equipment and armor and casually threw it in a locker. They hadn't bothered to keep the restraints on them when they threw them in the cell. Hell, they didn't even remove the exspheres even though they knew how dangerous they were.

"Lloyd," Said Ranma and getting no response tried again a little louder, "Loyd!" still no response. Finally Ranma got right next to his ear and shouted "LLOYD!"

"I didn't do it!" Lloyd shouted waking up.

"Hey shut up!" yelled the guard.

Lloyd franticly looked around a bit before realizing where they were, "I suppose we lost then didn't we?"

"They took us all after you were incapacitated," explained Ranma, "We can trade stories later, right now we need to escape."

"How are we going to do that? All my equipment is gone."

Ranma waved him off, "Since when did I need equipment?"

Ranma started concentrating for a few seconds and a slight aura became visible to Lloyd. Then in a flash of brilliance Lloyd placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder breaking his concentration.

"What?" Ranma asked annoyed.

"Don't you think that they might have built in some kind of alarm?" he asked.

Ranma considered that for a second, then powered down, "You got a better plan?"

Lloyd told Ranma the plan who quickly agreed with it.

The guard was just dropping off to sleep when one of the prisoners shouted at him, "Hey stupid."

Surprised the guard looked up at the prisoners.

"See Lloyd, I told you the idiot would look." The guards eye twitched a little before he resumed his napping.

"Wow the guys actually sleeping on the job? Guess he wasn't good enough for any place else. Probably one of those lazy throwbacks they couldn't find a better place for." Said Lloyd.

"Shut up!" shouted the guard.

"Make me. Although you're probably to lazy to get off you fat ass to do it," said Ranma while pulling down one eyelid and sticking out his tongue.

Snarling the desian got up from his seat while grabbing the whip from his belt. He snapped the whip forward at Ranma.

The next series of event went so fast that Lloyd had trouble following them. Ranma grabbed the whip in mid strike and jerked on it, pulling the desian along with it. Ranma released the whip and grabbed the desians head through the bars and bashed his head repeatedly into the cell bars. Finally Ranma grabbed the remote from the desian and pressed the open button.

"Satisfied?" Ranma smirked at Lloyd's shocked look.

Lloyd shook his head and recovered, "Lets get our stuff."

They took the guard and threw him into the cell they had vacated and locked it. After searching for a bit they found their equipment and suited up.

One of the main aspects of the Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts is stealth and trickery. Even Genma's ultimate techniques were based on those aspects. Although Ranma had never (mostly) used his stealth techniques for personal gain, training under Genma's style had instilled in him a high sense of awareness and ability to move without making noise.

Ranma's ear twitched slightly as he heard the main door to the room open. Quickly he gestured to Lloyd in some very well known universal hand signals. He pointed towards the door and held up two fingers. Then he went and pressed himself up against the wall, corner to the hall where the two guards were coming from.

The poor guards never knew what hit them.

Lloyd finally got a chance to talk to Ranma, "Did you get a good look at where they took us?"

"Nah, the guys blindfolded me before we came into the base," said Ranma as he was searching the two guards.

"Do you have any idea how we're going to get out of here?"

"Sneak past the guards and don't get caught," replied Ranma simply.

"Good to know you've got a plan," said Lloyd sarcastically.

"Got a better idea?" asked Ranma.

"Not really."

"Then lets get outta here," said Ranma as he finally found a key card on one of the guards.

"What about these guys?"

"Throw them in the cell."

After the guards were taken care of Ranma and Lloyd exited the cell room and began exploring the fortress. Along the way they had to ambush several guards to keep their presence quiet. Unfortunately when second shift came around…

Lloyd and Ranma jumped about 10 feet when the alarm went off. Ranma retaliated by incinerating the alarm with a ki blast, "Hmm, that's not good." He mused.

"Damn it, I thought we took out all the guards."

"They must have found one of the bodies, hurry!"

Ranma and Lloyd ran down one corridor, up an elevator, down a flight of stairs and dogged two guards who were coming down a hall by dodging into a side room.

"Whew," breathed Lloyd, "Now that was close."

"And who the hell are you?"

It was then that Ranma and Lloyd realized a very important fact. They were not alone in the room.

The two turned around at lightning speed to find themselves face to face with Botta from Martel temple and another man with blue hair and a cape.

"Yuan, its them. They're part of the chosen's group!"

"Of course, I was with the group that apprehended them. You would be Lloyd," he said gesturing to the red warrior, "and you would be Ranma, escaped convict F197, host body to the exsphere for the special project."

"Huh? What special project?" asked Ranma.

"That doesn't mater now. What does matter is that you will hand over your exsphere to us now, Ranma Saotome." Yuan brought his hand forward and a ball of electricity manifested. It looked very familiar, in fact…

"So you're the jerk that took a cheep shot at me!" shouted Lloyd, "Why you… DEMON FANG!" Yuan sidestepped the energy blast which continued on to destroy the desk he was standing in front of.

"Watch it!" shouted Yuan, "That desk was an antique! Do you have any idea how much that cost?"

Ranma and Lloyd sweatdropped.

"How dare you attack Yuan, you will pay for that!" yelled Botta before he pulled out a wicked looking red colored hook sword. He moved to attack Lloyd but Ranma deflected his sword by hitting the flat of the blade on its downward decent. Ranma kicked Botta in the stomach, forcing him back a couple steps.

"So you're the jerk that attacked Martel temple, I've been wanting a piece of you." Said Ranma.

Both sides retreated to opposite ends of the office and got into battle positions. Yuan drew his weapon, a double bladed sword. Just when they were about to charge eachother Yuan shouted, "Wait!"

Ranma, Lloyd, and Botta all turned to stare at Yuan who said, "Can we please take this somewhere besides my office? I just got this place refurbished."

Massive facefault.

After Botta, Lloyd, and Ranma picked themselves off the ground Yuan led them to an open space in the fortress.

"Now can we start?" asked Ranma thoroughly annoyed.

"Yes, begin!" and he swung his double bladed sword at Ranma who ducked under it.

"Still taking cheep shots huh? Well I guess you couldn't win any other way." Taunted Ranma. He retaliated with a palm strike to Yuan's gut which was easily dodged.

Meanwhile Lloyd had started fighting with Botta. He threw several quick thrusts at Botta who quickly blocked all of them and countered with a few slashes of his own.

Meanwhile Genis was leading Colette's group towards the renegades base. Kratos was easily keeping pace with Noishe as Genis and Colette rode atop him.

"How did they get captured?" asked Kratos, the picture of cool as they neared the desian base.

"Someone hit Lloyd with a ball of electricity while he was fighting off a group of desians," said Genis.

'Electricity?' Kratos thought, 'Only one person I know who can use that and he…' He broke off his thoughts abruptly and quickened his pace.

"LIGHTNING STRIKE" shouted Yuan as he jumped into the air and dived down, causing the immediate area around him to erupt with electricity, blasting Ranma back. Ranma had to admit, Yuan was good. Almost as good as Kratos it seemed.

Ranma quickly got up in time to doge several lightning balls that Yuan shot. He was running out of energy and the fight had been lasting a long time and it was taking its toll on Ranma. In the beginning it had appeared that they were evenly matched but when Yuan started using his techniques the battle had slowly started to go downhill.

Ranma cursed as he felt one of the lightning balls brush him and send a current of electricity through his whole body. Yuan came in close again and Ranma found himself quickly on the defensive trying to keep from being cut open.

"STALAGMITE!" shouted Botta, causing several stone spikes to erupt out of the ground around Lloyd, who quickly danced around the protruding objects. He ran in close again engaging his foe in melee combat.

Lloyd's battle had been going slightly better than Ranma's, in the sense that he was dishing out as much as he took. Botta packed a lot of power but he was slower than Lloyd who was constantly dancing around him to get the upper hand.

Botta brought his sword down straight into the ground, causing several chunks of the floor to shoot at Lloyd. He managed to block most of them but one got through and hit his chest, winding him. Botta charged forward and swung at Lloyd's chest scoring a slash right along his chest.

Fortunately Lloyd's armor took the main force of the blow but it still left a shallow cut along his chest.

Ranma was quickly getting exhausted. He had tried almost everything he knew but Yuan was still winning. Finally in a last desperate gambit he began focusing his remaining energies into his fist and rushed at Yuan. Yuan swung his blade in a figure eight pattern but Ranma jumped to the side, focusing all his energies into his speed and strength Ranma rushed Yuan from the side and shouted out a single word.

"IRON PALM!" the strike sent Yuan into the far wall and also sent Ranma to his knees his ki stores finally exhausted. He groaned as he saw Yuan extract himself from the wall that he had been slammed into, albeit a bit shaky.

"Damnit that hurt!" he yelled at Ranma. Then he started chanting as a purple aura surrounded him, "LIGHTNING BLADE!"

A blade of pure energy slammed into the ground about a foot away from Ranma's current position sending an electric shockwave out in all directions for about 10 feet. Ranma lapsed into unconsciousness as the lightning attack went through his body.

At that moment the door to the desian base flew open to admit Kratos and the rest of the chosen's group. Kratos quickly assessed the situation and ran towards Botta as he was about to bring up his blade for another attack. Kratos charged his blade with ki and brought his sword down on the flat of Botta's blade, cutting it at the hilt.

Botta felt the weight of the blade leave him and immediately turned around to face Kratos, before he was kicked in the stomach and sent into the wall, hard.

"Damnit, not you again!" shouted Botta throwing the useless hilt aside and running for the door. Yuan was already gone, a depression in the wall the only evidence he had ever been there (well, as long as you don't count the charred floor, the destroyed tiles and other various forms of destruction in the room).

The two men gone, Kratos went to examine Lloyd. Muttering under his breath he traced a glowing hand along Lloyd's chest where the cut was, closing it off and healing it. Raine, who had entered the room behind Kratos, went to examine Ranma and started healing his wounds, her staff glowing white.

Back at Triet Inn…

"So Kratos, who were those people?" asked Ranma

"Why would you assume that I would know them?"

"Call it a hunch," stated Ranma.

"I don't know Botta personally but Yuan and I have met before. That's all." He said it in a way that indicated the conversation was over.

After the fight with Yuan and Botta, the chosen's group had headed back to Triet for the night, to exhausted to deal with the first seal. Ranma had been interrogating Kratos about the two he fought but he couldn't get anything out of him. The only thing he knew for certain was that Yuan was going to pay the next time they met…

Lloyd had reunited with Colette who immediately took to fawning over his wounds and apologizing. Kratos had taken Ranma's clothes to the customizer to add more weight claiming, "If you had enough energy to cause havoc like that in the desian base then your obviously not being challenged enough."

While he was lying in bed Raine had given him a few books to look at telling him to memorize their contents or else. The fact that she was brandishing her new staff which had dozen of spikes protruding from the end helped him to concentrate on the task.

Raine had later gone off ask Lloyd and Kratos about their exspheres. Apparently she had found the discarded hilt of the sword that Botta threw and wanted to know if she could use one herself.

Ranma put the book up with a stretch and a yawn. As much as he hated to admit it, he was actually starting to enjoy reading. Unconsciously putting his ki to the job of healing his wounds Ranma went to sleep.

Yuan fell to his hands and knees as the warp panel reached its destination. Coughing up a bit of blood Yuan thought back to the earlier fight.

At first it appeared Ranma would be a little tricky to put down. After all, he had gotten past almost all of the guards and straight to his office without so much a scratch. When they had started fighting he wasn't able to get the upper hand until he started releasing some of his more powerful techniques.

Just when it looked like victory would be at hand Ranma had pulled an insanely fast and powerful blow right into his side. He had heard his ribs groan in protest from that blow. It was only thanks to pure adrenaline and panic that he got off that last blow and was alive right now, along with Botta.

The entrance of this person, Ranma Saotome, changed things. If the chosen had such avid guardians then they might have to call in a few reinforcements. One thing was for sure however, the next time he met Ranma, he would pay.

End Chapter 9

A/N: Short chapter, I know but this seemed like a good place to end it. Remember, I want comments, criticism, suggestions, flames, water, lightning, ice, whatever. I have also decided to start pairing polls so cast your vote.

Ranma- What? You mean that your deciding who I'm going to be spending the rest of my life with on chance?

ClanCrusher- Well, yeah. Something wrong with that?

Ranma- Why you… RAGING LIONS ROAR!

ClanCrusher- Gah!

Well I better give him some time to cool off. Until next time folks stay tuned for…

CHAPTER 10 

The Trail We Blaze


	41. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Alert! Alert! We have a 4-1-1 missing report of a Disclaimer. If found, please seal within box without air holes and ship it to Saudi Arabia.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 10- The Trail We Blaze**

There are very few things in the world that Ranma hate. On the top of his hate list would be the ferocious felines known to mankind as cats. Right now, however, the second would definitely be deserts.

Normally Ranma wouldn't have minded a walk through the burning sands and heat of the midday sun, but after an hour (along with his newly weighted clothes that Kratos had gotten him) of trudging through the burning hell of the Triet Desert, Ranma despised deserts.

"Man its so hot," Lloyd panted as he walked.

Noishe whined in agreement.

"Yes Lloyd," deadpanned Raine, "Deserts are naturally hot."

"Don't worry Lloyd, we'll be there soon." Encouraged Colette

"Quit complaining Lloyd, its good exercise," stated Genis

"Easy for you to say, wearing shorts," mumbled Lloyd.

Ranma and Kratos didn't answer. Lloyd had been complaining for the last half-hour and they didn't bother to dignify him with responses anymore.

They had left Triet early in the morning as to avoid the sun but they had still been caught in the sun due to several attacks by animals and other creatures. The snake nest they had accidentally stumbled into had been pure hell, fortunately Kratos had produced several antidotes to the snake venom.

They had also had a run in with another group of bandits who were easily dispatched but they had delayed them long enough for the sun to come out and bask them in scorching heat for the final leg of their journey.

Finally after another 2 hours they came upon a set of ruins. It didn't look like much but Kratos finally said that they had arrived.

"Whew! I am so sick of this desert!" exclaimed Lloyd collapsing to his knees.

Ranma didn't say anything, instead he just collapsed the ground in a dead faint. The combined effects of the heat, weight, and constant battles had taken their toll on him. He had no idea how a simple shirt could weigh so much but the customizers back in Triet seemed to be able to make anything possible if given the right materials.

Kratos sighed and took off his personal pack. Around him the other members of the party did the same thing, "Genis could you give him another?"

Genis, who had been riding on Noishe, hopped off and took out his Kendama, "Aqua edge revised, Water Spout!"

The young magic user had been using Aqua Edges to keep Ranma awake but after several complaints from Ranma about how the hurt like hell Kratos had shown him a revision of the technique.

Genis was briefly surrounded by a blue aura before a stream of water erupted from the end of his weapon and splashed onto Ranma, who woke with a start.

"I didn't do it!" he shouted, looking around in a panic.

"Change clothes Ranma, were in enemy territory now." Kratos was looking about warily, his hand fingering the hilt of his sword.

Ranma struggled to get his shirt off while everyone else was preparing their weapons.

"They come!" shouted Kratos. It was all the warning they got before several floating red ball shaped… things, came out from behind the pillars of the ruins.

The things immediately were surrounded with red auras indicating fire magic. Kratos and company didn't give them a chance to cast. The party waded through the spell casters and cut them down mercilessly (well, okay, so it was only Kratos and Lloyd but still) except Ranma who was still trying to get the weighted shirt off his head.

Unfortunately for Ranma, the group had missed one red element and it was able to fire off a fireball, which hit Ranma just as he finished taking off his shirt, which started to burn his undershirt.

"Gahhh!" Ranma shouted finally getting off the weighted shirt. He immediately dropped to the ground and rolled around to put the fire out.

After a few seconds Ranma got up again, and he looked pissed, "There is only one person who can set me on fire and get away it, and your not him!"

Ranma charged forward with the shirt in his hand and smacked the elemental with his shirt.

The red elemental flew right through two pillars of stone and stopped at a third which crumbled down on top of the thing, killing it instantly.

"Saotome Final Technique, Iron Cloth," said Ranma cockily, flicking his pigtail back behind his head.

Everyone stared open mouthed (except Kratos of course) at the shattered stone pillars.

Finally Genis spoke up, "Just how much does that thing weigh?"

Ranma shrugged and tossed it onto the ground, immediately forming a small crater.

"Man, sucks to be you!" laughed Lloyd.

"You'll get yours tomorrow after we finish here." Stated Kratos simply.

Lloyd immediately stopped laughing.

"We should set up camp here for tonight. It would be unwise to fight the creatures within these ruins today." Commented Raine.

"Say Kratos, why don't you wear any weighted clothes?" asked Lloyd.

Kratos didn't respond. Instead he removed one of his shoulder guards and tossed it to Lloyd.

Lloyd caught the object, and fell over onto his back, "Jeeze this thing is heavy!" Lloyd struggled to lift it for a few moments before Kratos came over and took it from him with one hand.

Ranma walked around the camp restlessly. Raine had given him a huge lesson about the Triet ruins, keeping him awake via water using Genis, who already knew everything about Triet. It amazed Ranma that one so young could be such a genius.

When he had tried to talk to Kratos he was only told him to rest and prepare for tomorrow. He said nothing further to him.

Lloyd and Colette were out like a light. They were unused to traveling long distances and constant fighting and had fell asleep as soon as their tents had been set up.

Looking around, Ranma noticed Raine placing here hands on Genis back, glowing with a white aura and chanting softly. When she had finished her body glowed green for a brief second before entering Genis body.

"What was that?" asked Ranma curiously.

"It's a special technique called charge. Instead of healing the bodies wounds, it restores the bodies energy by using your own energy." She explained, "Sometimes Genis needs some energy to keep him going because of his age."

Ranma, like Ranma, was always interested in new techniques, "That's pretty neat. Think you can show me?"

"Fortunately you don't need to be an expert in magic to do it but it does take concentration."

The technique 'Charge' required the receiver and the giver to be exactly in tune with each others ki. It was easier to do among family members, Raine explained, but if you concentrated hard enough it was possible to do with anyone.

Ranma tried it a few times with Raine and was able to impart a small amount of energy to her one time before the connection was cut off. He tried it a few more times, getting steadily more frustrated until Raine told him to stop and get some rest.

"It takes concentration Ranma, and you cant concentrate when your tired."

"Come on just one more time," Ranma insisted, "Please?"

"Bed. Now." The tone she used allowed no argument.

"Alright fine. Jeeze, you sound just like a mom." It wasn't until he was in his tent before he let himself smile, "Not that that's a bad thing mind you." He spoke quietly to himself. It was nice to have a mother figure, even though she wasn't his biological mother.

Ranma woke up before everyone else, or so he thought. When he went out into an open area to practice he saw Kratos there, meditating. Ranma turned and was about to leave when Kratos spoke up.

"Have a seat Ranma."

Hesitantly Ranma sat down next to Kratos.

Kratos, his eyes still closed spoke to Ranma, "Another important aspect of ki manipulation and control is meditation. Unless you are at least somewhat in tune with your inner self then you will find it difficult and draining to use your ki."

Ranma listened carefully, mirroring Kratos position on the ground beside him.

"In order to become a true master of any art you mind, body, and spirit must be in tune with eachother. The first step is meditation."

Ranma had been to several temples on his 10 year torture er… I mean training trip and had heard much of the same things said by priests and other religious fellows. However, when Kratos said it, it held much more meaning.

Ranma got into the position Kratos displayed and began breathing in sync with him. Genma had thought that meditation was a useless art and that brute force (along with trickery and thievery) could overcome anything. Of course Ranma had written Genma off as an idiot years ago and had, on occasion, tried out some of the meditation techniques taught to him by priests.

The first step of meditation was easy, breathe in for a count of 7 and breathe out for a count of 7. After a while it became second nature.

The second step was the one Ranma had the most trouble with; clearing your mind. It was at this point that every single noise, itch, and minor discomfort would seem to be multiplied ten-fold in an effort to distract you.

'Focus!' thought Ranma harshly, 'I need to focus and stop thinking about anything!'

"Don't try to force yourself, it will come naturally if you let it." Kratos spoke unexpectedly.

Ranma turned to stare at him for a second; was the man psychic? Not making any progress with his current criteria, Ranma opted to follow his advice, calmly emptying his thoughts little by little like water from a hole.

Slowly but surely Ranma was getting to the first stage of meditation. He had nearly cleared his mind when…

"RANMA!"

"Gah!" Ranma cried, immediately flipped to his feet, assuming a defensive stance.

Lloyd put up his hands in a warding gesture, "Woah, hey calm down. Its only me."

"Lloyd, don't scare me like that." Said Ranma lowering his guard, 'Damn,' he thought to himself, 'So close! Oh well.'

"I was calling you for the last 5 minutes, what were you doing anyway?"

"Meditating."

"Oh. I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready."

"Oh thanks. Hey Kratos! Kratos?" Ranma looked over to Kratos only to find that he hadn't moved the entire time.

Breakfast:

"So Ranma, do you cook at all?" asked Genis as he tended to a pot of Stew on the fire.

"Not really. My pop always said that men should never have to learn culinary arts, along with a lot of other things."

"Yeah well your pop is an idiot. What do you do for food when your out on the road?"

"Well I can cook a nice big slab of meat," Ranma said scratching the back of his head.

"Typical adventurers food," mumbled Genis to himself, "Don't see how you can get by."

"And I suppose you could do better then?" Ranma challenged.

Genis offered him a small bowl with some of the stew in it. Ranma, never one to pass up food or a challenge, tried it.

"Man this is good! How did you get to be such a good cook?"

"Experience. I usually cook for me and sis. She is probably one of the worst cooks you would ever meet."

Nerima…

ACHOO!

Akane looked up from her toxic waste… er I mean food and wondered who was talking about her.

After breakfast the party finally set out to explore the ruins. Everyone was tense, they had been attacked twice by various fire elements and some birds that were made of pure flame had ambushed them.

After a few minutes of walking they came upon a slab set in the ground. The rock was a different color then the rest of the ruins and looked very well preserved.

"Well, now what?" asked Genis after a brief moment of silence.

Ranma turned to Kratos to ask what they should when he heard a dark laugh coming from Raine.

"Er… professor are you all right?" asked Lloyd cautiously.

Raine looked up and everyone (including Kratos) stepped back a bit when they saw the maniacal glint in her eye, "FACINATING!" she shouted suddenly.

"Hey teach whats up?" asked Ranma.

"Oh no not again." Genis moaned putting a hand to his head.

Raine ignored them all and ran up to the slab of stone, "This is polycarbonate, and ancient artifact used to defend against magic during the great Kharlan War! Its so smooth."

Everyone in the party was sweatdropping now, "Is she always like this?" Kratos asked.

"Sigh. And I've tried so hard to hide it too." Complained Genis.

Raine stopped her examination of the stone and moved over to a nearby pedestal, not even stopping when she knocked Ranma to the ground. Stepping on his back she looked at it closely.

"Get off me!" shouted Ranma from his position on the ground.

"Hmm. And if I'm not mistaken, this is the oracle stone," she turned to address Colette, "Colette, put your hand here."

"Me? Okay." Colette walked over and (stepping on Ranma in the process) placed her hand on the oracle stone.

The slab of polycarbonate slid away to reveal a staircase leading downwards.

"Will you get off me!" Ranma tried to yell but could barely get it out as a whisper.

"Wow I guess this means I really am the chosen!"

"Yes Colette I think we all know that." Stated Genis

"Hip hip horay for you." Mumbled Ranma, still facedown in the stone.

Following the stone staircase was a stone hallway. Nobody attacked them while they were walking, which only served to make them all the more cautious, well except Raine.

She was busy examining every square inch of the ruins, muttering nonstop under her breath, "I just don't understand it." Said Raine, as she finished her examination, "No words, markings, symbols, or anything!"

"Probably because the chosen is the only one that uses this place." Mumbled Ranma irritably. He was getting quite annoyed with her 'Archeological Mania' attitude but that was mostly because his back was still sore.

Raine looked at Ranma strangely, "I don't believe it."

"Believe what professor?" asked Lloyd.

"Ranma, you actually said something smart for once!" exclaimed Raine, "And here I thought you were just like Lloyd!"

"Heh, thanks." Ranma put a hand to the back of his head in embarrassment.

"That wasn't a compliment Ranma," deadpanned Genis.

Ranma took a minute to think that over.

"HEY!"

The pointlessly long but necessary hallway finally opened up into a large circular room. In the center was a circle like object similar to the one in Martel Temple. Lava was surrounding the circular platform.

As the last person crossed the stone bridge to the platform, the section of stone sank into the lava, cutting off any possible exit. Everyone in the party, including Raine, was now on full alert, constantly scanning the area.

The party, with Kratos in the lead approached the seal in the center of the arena. All of a sudden Genis put a hand to his head in concentration.

"Ther… there's a great welling up of mana!" he shouted suddenly.

"It comes!" shouted Kratos.

A pillar of fire erupted from the seal, followed by two smaller pillars of fire from the lava surrounding the stone stage. The smaller pillars died down quickly to reveal two flaming, disfigured, humanoid, sword bearers. They, however, paled in comparison to the main event.

The big flame finally died down to reveal a gigantic lizard like creature with a flaming body (in case you haven't figured it out, this is kind of the style around here) and spines along its back. The thing gave a roar and leaped to attack the nearest person.

Ranma didn't exactly have a religion but the situation seemed appropriate, "Jesus Christ what is that thing?"

Kratos casually jumped back, avoiding the creatures bite, "I would assume that he is the guardian of the seal."

Genis had already started to cast a spell, while Colette and Raine had retreated to the edges of the platform.

Lloyd had immediately ran up to one of the Flame Warriors and began trading blows with it.

Ranma jumped over to the second warrior and landed a blow right in its chest. The thing just shrugged it off though and retaliated with a few sword strokes of its own. The thing was fairly slow though so they were easy to dodge.

The Ktugach (as Raine had identified the fire lizard) was a bit more trouble. The thing had started to fire of spikes from its body and Kratos was hard pressed to dodge all of them. Every now and then he would take a few swings at his head but it was doing little damage.

A shout of 'Aqua Edge' was followed by a few blades of water impacting Lloyd's flame warrior. In the moment of distraction Lloyd took the opportunity to sever off his sword arm. The creature, undaunted, raised his other hand and shot three small balls of flame at Lloyd.

Unexpected, the attack hit Lloyd right in the chest knocking him over. Fortunately the creature never got to follow the attack up as a metal disc severed the creatures head, instantly dropping it to the ground.

"Thanks Colette!" shouted Lloyd before running off to help Kraots.

Meanwhile Ranma had easily dispatched his opponent. After taking out his sword arm Ranma had hit a blue spot in the middle of the body that had instantly made the thing stop moving.

With the flame warriors gone, the fighters turned towards the big threat. Even with the combined might of Kratos, Ranma, and Lloyd attacking the thing, they just weren't doing enough damage. Ranma couldn't get close enough without getting burned and the spines on the thing made it hard for Lloyd and Kratos to score hits on its flesh.

Ranma jumped over the tail of the beast as it swung around and tried to hit the melee fighters. Kratos tried to get another shot at the head but ended up dodging several spikes instead.

Genis released another Aqua Edge spell that hit the Ktugach right in the head. Unlike the other blows this actually got a reaction out of the thing.

The Ktugach roared in pain and turned to Genis and let loose a stream of fire. Fortunately Ranma pulled Genis out of the way just in time.

"Genis," spoke Ranma quickly, "Do you think you can increase the power of the Aqua Edge?"

"I don't think I have enough energy to get any more power into it." Replied Genis.

Ranma thought for a moment, "What if I was to charge you?"

Genis thought about that for a moment, "That just might work!"

"We need Raine to help us though. Jump!"

Both Genis and Ranma jumped as the tail passed under them again. The creature was facing away from them now and concentrating on Kratos and Lloyd.

"Raine! Get over here!" shouted Genis.

At the head, Kratos and Lloyd were still trying to pierce the creature in a vulnerable spot unsuccessfully. Kratos took a second to look at where the others were and saw Raine and Ranma glowing with a white aura. He immediately recognized the spell and saw who they were doing it to.

Sheathing his sword Kratos shouted to Lloyd, "Keep him distracted and away from the chosen!"

"What? Gahhh!" Lloyd didn't have time to question Kratos as a new set of spikes tried to impale him.

Ranma and Raine were surprised to find a third aura had joined theirs in an attempt to charge Genis but quickly accepted it. Genis was concentrating with all his might on the spell, focusing on his inner energy.

As one, Genis, Kratos, Ranma, and Raine opened there eyes. In eerie unison they all said:

"Unison Attack! AQUA STORM!"

At that moment, the 4 were all in tune with one another's ki. At that moment, there minds and spirits were one. It was at that moment that the combined energy of the 4 was put into that spell.

The end results were hundreds of aqua disks flying straight into the Kutgach and out the other side. The thing gave a final roar of protest before its flames sputtered out and died.

Genis fainted while Raine collapsed to her knees. Kratos remained standing but he was a little shaky on his feet. Ranma merely collapsed onto his back.

"Well… done Ranma," panted Raine, "I didn't expect you to learn the spell… that quickly."

A/N: Ah, another chapter complete. It just gives me such a WAFFY feeling that I have another chapter complete. For those of you who have looked at my profile you can expect another chapter of Smash Brother Ranma before I update this again. Once again I must stress to you the importance of reviews because I always want to know if my readers like my stories.

Oh and by the way, if any of you are wondering why he didn't mention the dream, well think about it like this. What would people think of you if you told them that their world was a video game turned into a real world? Hmmm….

Tune in next time for Chapter 11: The Mysterious Assassin?


	42. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… Huh? Oh what! A disclaimer? Nah. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Pairing results: Heh. That would give it away, but the results have been decided.

Oh and by the way, some people have petitioned me saying that Ranma should be able to beat Kratos easily but I do not think that is so. All of you people who have beaten the game know what I mean when I say that experience and learning comes with **age**.

 **Ranma and the Land of Symphonia**

 **Chapter 11: The Deadly Assassin (Yeah Right)**

Ranma lay awake, staring at the ceiling of his tent unable to fall asleep. After they had beaten the Kutgach, Remial had appeared again and blessed Colette with the power of the Angels. She now had a set of wings to go along with her white clothes making her look like a real angel. Ranma had said as much to a blushing Colette.

He then gave his standard cryptic hint before vanishing in a flash of light and feathers. For some reason he didn't like Remial that much. Maybe it was his 'I know everything' attitude or maybe it was because he gave the impression that everyone besides Colette was inferior to him.

The temple had been devoid of enemies as soon as the seal was released so they had an easier time getting back out of the ruins. They had decided to set up camp a little ways away from the ruins as night was coming on fast and he, along with Raine and Genis, were dead on their feet.

Colette had also collapsed as soon as they got out of the ruins which furthered their decision.

The biggest shock, however, came when Kratos talked to Ranma and Lloyd later that evening.

FLASHBACK

Kratos, Ranma and Lloyd were seated around the campfire.

"That boy Genis, he has the strength and potential to become a very good mage." Mused Kratos to himself but loud enough for Lloyd and Ranma to hear.

"Yeah if he worked on his aim a little bit." Mumbled Ranma.

Lloyd chuckled a little from that but stopped when they saw Kratos' glare.

"By all rights Genis should be dead now."

Lloyd was shocked, "B..b…but why?"

"Any human that ever tried to channel that much mana would die straight out. Half-Elves and Elves like you friend Genis do have an easier time with it but having 3 different sources of energy enter your body at once, even if they were in perfect tune with one another, has had more drastic effects on people older and stronger than Genis."

That silenced both of them for a bit but then Ranma spoke up, "If its as bad as you say it is then why did Genis get off with just a fainting spell? And besides, we won didn't we."

"I admit we did win in the end. As to Genis' condition," For the first time since Ranma saw him, Kratos smiled, "As much as it may seem that I do, I don't know everything in the universe."

He walked away leaving Ranma and Lloyd with their thoughts.

Genis, despite being a little tired, claimed he was perfectly fine and had offered to cook dinner when Raine had volunteered to do it instead. Kratos had told Genis to rest and let Raine cook.

Kratos was the first person to take a bite. He was also the first person to be on the receiving end of several healing gels and first aid spells.

Ranma and Lloyd did the smart thing and disposed of their food the minute Raine's back was turned. That food was swallowed up by a worm that mutated into an enormous monster that would eventually swallow the Soul Eater… but that comes later.

Colette had decided to skip the meal, claiming she was not hungry.

END FLASHBACK

'Who would have thought that Kratos could actually make a joke?' thought Ranma to himself.

Sighing to himself Ranma got to his feet, careful not to wake up Lloyd who was sleeping next to him.

Ranma walked a few yards away from the camp before beginning a slow Tai Chi kata while simultaneously meditating. Kratos had showed him a different way of meditating after Ranma had told him that he couldn't sit still long enough to find his center.

The style was basically clearing ones mind and doing a kata that had been so ingrained into your memory that it was second nature. Any form would do but Ranma had chosen Tai Chi for its clam and relaxing nature. Although Genma had frowned upon these styles claiming that they were unworthy with all his usual BS.

It had only taken a little time before Kratos had begun to slowly break Ranma away from his fathers 'teachings.' Old habits were dying quite hard unfortunately as Ranma still ate at supersonic speed.

"Cant sleep?"

"Aaaahh!" Ranma quickly turned around and got into a defensive position only to find Kratos looking back at him. No matter how hard he tried Kratos had always been able to sneak up on him.

"You shouldn't be so tense. Its not good for the mind and spirit."

Ranma relaxed his stance, "Yeah, well being ambushed at every time of the day by your old man can do that to a person. Why are you here anyway?"

"…I came here to cook some food."

"I guess not even your endurance could handle Raine's cooking then." Snickered Ranma.

Kratos twitched.

Together they gathered wood and put some meat over the no-smoke campfire they built.

There was silence between them until Noishe came from behind him and butted his head gently. Ranma gave him a pat on the head and Noishe licked his face.

The real surprise was when Noishe went over to Kratos and started to lick his face.

"Stop Noishe." Mumbled Kratos tiredly. The animal gave a whine before laying down next to Ranma who began to stroke him absentmindedly.

"Do you like animals?" Ranma asked suddenly.

"No. Not particularly."

"That's odd. Noishe seems to like you quite well."

Kratos quickly changed the subject, "You said you came from a different world right?"

Ranma nodded.

"Which one?" asked Kratos.

"A place called earth. Japan to be exact although I was at China when I was brought here." Ranma provided.

A different expression flashed across Kratos' face but is was gone too quickly for Ranma to see it.

"Never heard of it."

"Didn't think so. Hey Kratos, have you ever heard of some guys named Origin or Maxwell?"

This time Ranma did see the expression on Kratos' face change but only briefly.

"Where did you hear those names?"

Ranma thought fast. He didn't want to reveal his dream to them just yet.

"Uh…around."

It was obvious that Kratos didn't believe him but he seemed to accept Ranma's reluctance to answer, "Each of the four seals has their own separate deity. For instance the fire seal here is watched over by the spirit Ifrit. The other seals of Light, Water, and Wind are watched over by the spirits Luna, Undine, and Slyph respectively."

"So where do Origin and Maxwell fit into this?"

"Origin is the supposed leader of all the summon spirits although this is based strictly on legend. Maxwell…" he trailed off.

"Well?" asked Ranma expectantly.

"No one knows who he is. The name appeared in the history texts under the other spirits but he has never been classified or seen." He spoke quietly.

Ranma was able to get to sleep later that night which was fortunate because Kratos woke them up real early saying that they had a long way to go before they could get out of the Triet Desert. He wanted to make it to the Ossa Trail before the heat really set in.

After much griping, complaining, and the usual things associated with packing up camp they had finally set out.

"Man why do we have to get up so early? Not even the fiends are stupid enough to wake up this early." Complained Lloyd.

"If you can't handle it then you can always go home," stated Kratos.

"I can't go back to Iselia Village! I was exiled."

"Then quit acting like we're on vacation."

That silenced all the complainers. Ranma didn't complain because he was used to running on little to no sleep and Raine was saving her breath for walking rather than talking.

Kratos and Colette seemed to be the only ones that were unaffected by the lack of sleep. Fortunately they were able to make good time and had gotten to the entrance of the trail by about 9am (to Ranma's estimation) right before the sun really started giving off rays.

The party halted at the entrance to the trail at Kratos' command.

"Sensing something?" asked Ranma looking around.

"Just the regular fiends. There's an enemy close by however so keep your guard up."

The group walked cautiously on the trail for a few minutes before Kratos shouted out.

"Above you!"

Another voice soon followed this statement.

"Stop!"

Everyone looked up to see a female figure. She had wild black hair tied back in a braid and was wearing a purple robe with black pants and a pink ribbon tied around her middle that trailed down to her ankles. She had brown eyes and was generously endowed and looked like the perfect picture of someone who was not a fighter.

"Is the chosen of mana among you?" she asked in a commanding voice.

Colette actually went as far as to raise her hand, "Oh! That would be me!"

"Die!" she shouted and leaped off the cliff. Everyone prepared for a fight but all of a sudden she was interrupted by a gale of laughter.

Everyone looked around to see Ranma rolling on the ground laughing.

"…Okay I'll bite. What's so funny?" asked Lloyd.

"This!" shouted Ranma before laughing again.

"And what's so funny about it?" asked the female.

Ranma seemed to gain control of himself, "Well, seriously. Here you are, trying to assassinate someone and you shout at us from the top of the cliff in plain view of everyone where someone could hit you with a spell or arrow. And then shout out your intentions at the top of your lungs so the world could hear them. I thought assassins were supposed to strike secretly from the shadows while wearing dark clothes and all that."

The woman started to visibly twitch as Ranma made his assessment of her, "Give me a break," she shouted, "It's my first time!"

Lloyd was starting to snigger to himself as well, "Hey assassin, how many people did you shout at before finally finding the right group?"

The woman was really getting angry now.

"I wonder how long she spent on the cliff waiting for us. I mean, it probably would have been easier to attack right after the fire seal." Joked Ranma.

Even Raine was trying to hold back her laughter now.

'Screw the chosen,' thought the woman irritably, "Die!"

The woman ran directly at Ranma who casually pushed Colette out of the way. Unfortunately Ranma was standing right on a trap door waiting for Sheena's attack, and Colette stumbled from the force of the push, falling and hitting a conspicuous red lever that opened the trap door that Ranma and Sheena were now standing on.

Both Ranma and Sheena comically stood in the air for a few seconds before looking down and seeing they were standing on air.

"Well this sucks." Commented Ranma before the laws of gravity took effect and both of them fell down the mineshaft.

Everyone stood around stupidly for a few seconds before Colette ran over to the trap door, "Oh no I just dropped Ranma and that girl into the mineshaft! I hope that their oaky!"

"Smooth Colette. Real smooth." Commented Lloyd.

Genis walked over to the trapdoor and looked down, "Considering the distance to be 15 meters deep and assuming her weight to be 52kg multiplied by the 4.2 gravity constant…" Genis went on rambling for a bit until Kratos cut in.

"The fall wasn't fatal. She would be luck if she got an injury from it."

"And how did you conclude that?" asked Raine.

"Because if I know Ranma he'll take the brunt of the fall by shielding her with his own body."

In the Mineshaft…

Ranma reacted purely on instinct. Positioning his body behind Sheena he grabbed her around the waist.

"Hey! What do you think your doing?"

"Its gonna be a rough landing! Hold on!" Ranma shouted back ignoring her shouting.

The landing shook the entire mineshaft and nearly caused a cave in.

Sheena immediately got out of Ranma limp embrace and checked herself for injuries. Surprisingly she found none on her entire body. Looking over at Ranma she found out why.

The landing had not been pleasant for Saotome. The mineshaft had deposited them right on some loose gravel with the rocks jutting up at odd angles. A particularly large rock had hit Ranma's head and had knocked him out.

Sheena sighed. They may be enemies but he did save her life. And he wasn't that bad looking either… she mentally beat herself up for going down that line of thinking.

Slipping out a gel from her robe she placed it on the ground next to him along with one of her cards. She then ran to look for the exit from the mines.

"So you think she's going to attack us again?" asked Lloyd.

"I'm sure of it. The space is too cramped and the footing is poor. We should hurry to the end and try to find a safer way into the mineshaft so we can find Ranma." Stated Kratos.

The party started the task of climbing the trail. It was mostly uphill on one side and downhill on the other which made fighting difficult halfway and easy halfway. Despite the fiends they were able to make pretty good time but they were in for a surprise as they got to the bottom of the trail.

Standing there, out of breath, was the clumsy assassin ready (sort of) for battle.

"This time you wont get away!" she shouted.

"Are you really sure you want to fight us 4 on 1?" asked Raine skeptically.

"Of course not! That's why I brought some help!" taking a particular card out of her supply she shouted out, "Come! Wind Guardian!"

Ranma awoke a few minutes later with a sharp headache and pain all over his body. Much to his limbs protest he forced himself into a sitting position and assessed his surroundings. It appeared that he was in some sort of mine. Looking on the ground around him he spotted the gifts left by Sheena.

There was an Apple Gel along with a small card. Picking up the card Ranma read the four words on the card.

Thank you,

Sheena Fujibayashi

Smiling to himself Ranma pocketed the card and used the gel on himself. Feeling his injuries slightly disappear he picked himself off the ground and began to explore the mineshaft.

He wandered around aimlessly with no real destination in mind (except the exit of course). He saw several fiends in the mineshaft but he easily snuck around them. Finally he came to what appeared to be a dead end but a black skull caught his eye before he turned to leave.

Approaching the skull he saw that an entire skeleton lay out before him with four different blades in the ground around it.

Looking at the skull Ranma received the shock of his life when the thing turned its head and looked back at him.

If that wasn't enough the thing began to speak to him too.

"S…TRONG ONE….I SEEK."

The skull seemed to be struggling to speak now. It gave long pauses between its words and seemed to be gasping for breath.

"F..FIGHT?"

Ranma finally picked his jaw off the ground, "You mean your actually giving me a choice?"

"…YES."

Ranma assessed the skull and his injuries. He figured that he could take on one measly skull.

"Alright I accept."

"I…COME!"

Ranma watched once more in shock as the body of the skeleton came to life and picked up the skull with horns on it. The thing then waved its arms over the four swords placed around its body and all four of them jumped into his hands. The thing was now a black skeleton with four swords twice Ranma's height.

"Me and my biiiiiiiiiiiig mouth." Mumbled Ranma getting into a defensive stance.

A/N: And so we introduce the popular female assassin Sheena Fujibayashi. Tune in next time for Chapter 11: Battles Abound. Ranma vs. Sword Dancer and Sheena vs. The Chosen of Mana.

Please remember to leave a chapter on your way out.

Cheers.


	43. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Oh where, oh where did my disclaimer go? Oh where, oh where did it go?

A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a **chapter** for my last story. God I want to kick myself for that.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 12- Sword Dancer**

Ranma surveyed the gigantic four-armed skeleton in front of him. The 'thing' had an insanely huge aura that was visible even to the naked eye.

"I…FIGHT!" the disembodied voice was all the warning Ranma got before the thing charged at him with its swords flailing. The martial artist jumped back out of the skeletons range and removed his weighted shirt, tossing it on the ground nearby.

Charging in, Ranma leaped to avoid a cut at his legs, bent his body at an unnatural angle to avoid a swing at his throat, knocked aside a downward slash and caught the final blade between his palms right before it would have cut him in half.

The skeleton wasted no time in using another two blades to swipe at Ranma, but he had already rolled under the skeletons legs. Leaping up the fighter landed a punch right on the skeletons head making it spin around 360 degrees before coming to rest.

Unfortunately the demon's torso twisted 180 degrees, simultaneously lashing out with all four swords at once.

Ranma fell to the ground, sporting a few minor cuts. He quickly backed away from horned skeleton to get some breathing room and assess his opponent more carefully. Reaching into his pocket Ranma looked through the magic lens that Raine had given him. A series of words quickly appeared in the lens beside the skeleton's picture:

NAME: SWORD DANCER

TYPE: DEMON-SKELETON

ALLIGNMENT: DARK

WEAKNESS: LIGHT

"Weakness to light? Damnit! Where's Colette when you need her?" Grumbling to himself Ranma took off his weighted clothing.

 **Flashback Temple of Fire:**

"Hey guys!" Lloyd shouted, "Look what I found!" 

Lloyd pointed at a small chest in a dirty corner. It had no keyhole and looked more like a box than an actual chest.

"What's that doing in a place like this?" puzzled Ranma.

Running over to the chest, Lloyd kicked it open with his foot. The chest suddenly sprouted teeth and bit his foot.

"OW!" Franticly shaking his foot Lloyd dislodged the chest.

"That thing bit me!" The chest had hopped back a few feet and was barring its teeth like an angry dog.

"That's no chest! That's a Fake!" shouted Raine as she drew her staff. Around her everyone drew their weapons as well.

The fake turned to Ranma and promptly began regurgitating items from its mouth. The thing spit out a toy hammer, a small skull, and a shuriken.

Ranma smirked as the items came towards him, "What is this, some kind of prank?"

His smile died a painful death as the items struck his body. Too late Ranma realized the items were charged with a staggering amount of energy. The skull hit his arm and nearly bowled him over. Falling to the floor, Ranma just barely dodged the hammer by rolling out of the way.

The hammer bounced on the ground and ricocheted to hit Raine squarely in the chest, knocking her to the floor. The shuriken would have hit Colette if it weren't for Lloyd who took the blow on the arm just in time.

"What is that thing?" yelled Ranma as he regained his feet.

"A fake." Kratos calmly explained as he dodged another barrage of items from the chest, "They were used by nobles to keep thieves from stealing their treasure. Unfortunately the fakes stopped everyone, including the nobles, from getting at the valuables."

The battle was fierce. Every time a person tried to get close to it, the Fake would shoot off some charged items forcing the person to retreat or dodge. The thing seemed to have an almost infinite supply of toys and bones.

Genis let off a cry of "Wind Blade" and several blades of condensed air surrounded the chest. Stunned for a brief moment Ranma got right behind the chest and held its mouth closed.

"Colette!" Kratos shouted, "Use your powers now!"

"Right." Spoke a determined Colette. Enveloped in a holy aura with her wings out behind her, Colette began to chant softly.

A few seconds later Colette opened her eyes and spoke two words, "Angel Feathers!"

Ranma threw the chest in the air just as Colette shouted and dived to the ground.

Four disks of light were released from Colette's wings and cut the fake chest into pieces.

End Flashback 

'Man I sure could use one of those spells now.'

Outside of the mineshaft…

On one side stood the chosen's group. On the other side were Sheena and her guardian. Both sides seemed to size the other up.

The Wind Guardian had an outer-world look to it. It was colored white and skinny as a rail, possessing a vaguely humanoid look to it while floating in the air. It possessed no legs but rather had a single garment that covered the lower portion of its body, which didn't seem to be there.

Directly behind its head was a circular shaped object with a demon head sticking out the back. There was also a large paper seal on the object, probably to keep the thing bound to its master.

Sheena took out several cards from her robe and got into a fighters stance. The cards had strange markings on them and looked like seals a priest would use.

"Prepare yourself chosen of Mana!" she shouted.

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, "Is she really going to attack us with those things?"

"Don't let the weapon fool you Lloyd. Those cards are just as dangerous as a sword." Said Kratos.

At an unseen signal Lloyd and Kratos rushed forward to meet the assailants head on. Lloyd ran up to Sheena and slashed at her with his basic sword combo, only to be repelled as the assassin formed her cards into a miniature barrier and blocked his strikes. She retaliated as swordsman finished his combo.

The cards seemed to fly from her hands a short distance and return to her like a boomerang. It reminded Lloyd of the Fake in the fire temple, as the cards looked deceptively innocent while packed with energy.

Lloyd was caught off guard and the cards slipped by his defense impacting him in the chest and knocking him onto his back. Quickly regaining his feet Lloyd had just enough time to jump away as Sheena yelled out "Pyre Blast!"

The cards in Sheena's hand formed into a sphere with a fiery core and shot from her hand. The attack missed Lloyd and detonated harmlessly behind him.(1)

Kratos and the wind guardian squared off against eachother. The mercenary used his sword with the deadly grace that comes from years of practice while the guardian used the claws on its hands as a weapon.

Ducking under a slash and sidestepping an uppercut Kratos scored a direct his with the Demon Fang. Unfortunately the creature made a quick recovery and scored a small scratch on his arm.

Backing up a few steps, Kratos chanted softly to himself. When the Wind Guardian was within reach he shouted out his spell.

"LIGHTNING!" The sword that he was carrying briefly turned blue as Kratos did a quick jab, scoring directly on the Guardians chest. Blue electricity briefly surged over the monsters body as the thunder seeped through its veins.

Once again, the creature made an impossibly quick recovery and lashed out at Kratos, but the Mercenary was ready for it this time and sidestepped out of the way.

Lloyd ducked under another Pyre Blast and brought up his arm in time to block the next card strike.

"How many of those cards do you have?" Asked Lloyd as he went on the offensive, making several slashes at Sheena's hands to stop her from employing her cards again.

"Enough to take you down!" the assassin jumped back from another of Lloyd's swings and jumped into the air, releasing several shuriken like cards.

It was then that Colette finished her spell, "ANGEL FEATHERS!" 3 discs of light flew towards the incoming cards, knocking most of them out of the air and continuing on towards Sheena. The assassin was barely able to put up her guard in time before the discs hit, knocking her out of the air.

Quickly regaining her feet Sheena ran towards Lloyd who got into a defensive stance. The female ninja brought out another set of cards and prepared to attack only to jump to the side at the last second before she would have reached Lloyd.

She ran past Lloyd straight at Colette preparing to attack, only to trip as Raine's staff hit her legs. Sheena barely rolled out of the way in time as Genis shouted out, "FIREBALL!"

In the Mines:

Ranma threw another Demon Blast to cover his retreat from the Sword Dancer. The fight had been dragging on for a long time and it had not been going in his favor. So far he had managed to avoid serious injury by a combination of skill, agility, and a bit of luck. The thing may not have been a very fast walker but it attacked with speeds that rivaled his own.

The ki blast hit the demon head on but it was shrugged off just like all his other hits. Gritting his teeth Ranma charged in again, furiously dodging two of the swords and getting nicked by the third.

Ranma acted on pure instinct and caught the fourth that came towards his head. With an almighty wrench Ranma kicked off the ground taking the sword with him and breaking off the skeletons hand in the process.

"Damn that guy has an insanely strong grip!" Ranma mumbled to himself, "Oh well, at least I got one of his hands.

His face fell as he saw the Sword Dancer bend down and pick up his hand and reattach it to his body. Casually waving its hand, the sword Ranma had stolen began to vibrate and struggle in his grip.

Ranma let the sword go without much of a fight. He needed to conserve his energy for this guy and his ki reserves were running low.

Charging up another ki blast Ranma ran towards the sword Dancer, aiming for its head. Jumping into the air the martial artist released the blast as soon as he was level with the Dancer's head. The skeleton raised one sword to block the ki blast and cut it straight in half, the two pieces passing harmlessly by its head.

Back flipping in midair Ranma just barely dodged the sword that passed under his head in mid-flip. Unfortunately another sword came around and made a deep cut in his thigh.

Biting back a yell Ranma fell to the ground on his back, just in time to roll along the ground as the demon skeleton began stabbing the ground in an effort to impale him.

Finally regaining his feet after the fourth stab, Ranma jumped out of the creatures range, careful to land on one foot. Tearing off a strip of his shirt the warrior bound his leg with the makeshift bandage to stop the freely flowing blood.

'He's got to have a weak point somewhere! But I've hit him everywhere and nothing seems to slow him down short of pure disintegration!'

Forcing himself to ignore the pain in his leg Ranma ran forward again, sidestepping the downward slashes. As the last two swords came at him from above while the other two came at him from the sides Ranma dived between the skeletons legs, turning in midair so he was looking up at the monster.

As the skeleton was getting his swords ready Ranma struck the Sword Dancer in a place that would leave any normal man incapacitated, with a chi enhanced uppercut, following it up with another Demon Blast.

This shot seemed to register with the Sword Dancer as its torso turned around with amazing speed creating a small whirlwind of swords. Ranma fell back onto his back with a deep gash in his chest.

The Demon wasn't finished however, raising two swords above its head he brought them down right into Ranma's shoulders. This time Ranma didn't hold back the shout of pain.

Ranma swore he saw the creature grinning as he raised the final two swords about its head that were aimed for his chest and head.

The Anything Goes Martial Artist stared definitely at the skeleton above him.

"I'm going to win this even if I have to bring this whole mountain down on TOP OF YOU!" Summoning the last of his reserves Ranma fired two Demon Blasts at the wooden supports.

Somewhere Above Ground…

Sheena was a good fighter but even she had her limits. As it was she was finding herself hard pressed to fight four people at once, even if three of them were magic users.

Kratos gathered ki into his sword making it glow almost pure white. The Wind Guardian was putting up a remarkable fight and it had taken an incredible amount of damage and was still going too.

However there was one critical weakness that the female ninja had not taken into account when the Wind Guardian was summoned. Kratos ran towards the creature and jumped straight over it while releasing his Demon Fang. The guardian turned its back to let the shield take the damage but that was what Kratos had been counting on.

Running towards the monster again, Kratos brought his sword down, not on the creature, but on the seal that bound the Wind Guardian to its master.

At first nothing happened, but then a thin line appeared on the paper behind the Guardian. The paper divided into two pieces, turning into ash as it fell to the ground. The Wind Guardian, free of its seal, disappeared into the air.

The battle halted as the four people looked at a tired and worn Sheena.

"That was very sloppy." Commented Kratos as if he were talking about the weather, "You should have never placed the seal in plain sight of the enemy when you bound the spirit."

"D…damn you!" gasped the female ninja, out of breath, "Just you wait, I'll get you for this!"

The dialogue was interrupted as the ground suddenly shook, making everyone (except Kratos) briefly loose their footing. A single thought passed everyone's minds as they saw dust escape from the mine entrance.

'RANMA!'

Kratos started for Sheena but Raine got their first. She grabbed the assassin by the collar of her robe and shook her, "Ranma. Where is he?" she practically shouted into her face.

"Ran…ma?" she asked confused.

"The person who fell into the mineshaft with you! Where is he?"

"H…he's still down there!" she realized, shocked.

Raine dropped her to the ground and ran into the mine, closely followed by the rest of the gang. Sheena dropped something on the ground and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Ranma watched with satisfaction as the Sword Dancer tried to avoid the falling rocks. He was too weak to do anything but lie there and watch.

'So this is how it ends huh?' he thought to himself as he painfully moved his head to avoid a falling rock, 'Never thought that I'd die trying to kill off a demon. Hell, I'd thought I would have died on Earth.'

Ranma couldn't help but chuckle at that statement even as the rocks began to fall faster.

'Man, look at me. I'm on the verge of death and all I can do is make jokes about it.'

The Sword Dancer finally took a wrong step and had one of its arms crushed under a falling rock. Looking up Ranma saw an enormous rock that was steadily being dislodged as the shaking increased.

In a last ditch effort the demon-skeleton threw his sword at the rock before being buried under a pile of rubble. The sword finally dislodged the rock and it fell towards Ranma's head.

'Guess that makes it a tie then,' thought Ranma. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain… but it never came. He cautiously opened his eyes to see Kratos standing there holding the rock above his head.

"K…Kratos?" asked Ranma weakly.

The mercenary gave him a reassuring nod before barking out orders, "Raine! Lloyd! Grab Ranma and get out of here!" With a grunt of effort Kratos threw the boulder off to the side.

Ranma felt a pair of arms grab his legs and another pair grab under his arms. He was gently lifted off the ground and then he was moving. A few seconds later the section they were just in collapsed completely.

The party made a mad dash for the exit to the mines and got out, just as the entrance collapsed, sealing off the mine completely.

Ranma was laid out on the grass, his head supported by Kratos' hands.

"Ranma! What happened to you? Professor! Do something! Heal him!" Colette was a bit panicked.

Kratos silenced the chosen with a glare as cold as steel, "That's enough Colette. I'm sure that he will explain everything once he can talk."

Raine immediately called up her strongest healing spell and used it on Ranma. The wounds lessened but didn't disappear and the blood was still running. Lloyd ran to the pack that had been discarded during the fight and took out the bandages.

With the combined efforts of the chosen's group they were able to bandage all of Ranma's wounds and ease the pain with their healing spells.

"Ranma can you hear me?" asked Kratos softly.

Ranma's eyes fluttered open and looked around, "I'm not dead?" he asked weakly.

"Thankfully no." commented Raine. Now that Ranma was safe she had regained her calm and cool teacher attitude, "We were able to get you out of the mine before it collapsed."

"What attacked you?" asked Lloyd.

Slowly moving his arm Ranma withdrew the magic lens he had used to identify the Sword Dancer from his pocket.

Kratos immediately took the lens from his hand and looked into it, "Well that explains a few things." He muttered to himself.

"What is it?" asked Raine curiously.

Kratos handed her the lens and she looked through it, "I…I've never seen anything like it!" she exclaimed shocked.

"Professor?" asked Lloyd.

"We need to get to Izoold. It's not to far away and we need to get Ranma medical attention." Stated Kratos. The tone he used said quite clearly that the topic wasn't debatable, "Everything else can wait."

No more words were spoken as Raine and Lloyd helped to pick up Ranma off the ground. Ranma had settled into an uneasy sleep while Colette shouldered the company pack. Kratos kept his sword drawn all the way to the village.

A/N: Well, that was interesting. I hope you liked this chapter and the introduction of Sword Dancer, I thought he was one of the coolest enemies in the game.

(1)I always thought that in the game, Sheena's attacks were mediocre at best. Aside from her 'Over Limit' abilities (no spoilers please) she really didn't have any redeeming qualities, so I decided to add some .

Next Chapter Preview:

"The Sword Dancer is one of the greater demons of hell…"

"I shall now teach you how to defend yourself using your ki…"

"Raine? Is there any chance that you could teach me magic?"

"Stupid imposters!"

Just a little eye candy for you. Please remember to leave a **review** on the way out.


	44. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Spoon!

A/N: Happy Holidays! Consider this my Christmas present to all of my readers out there.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 13: Calm After the Storm (Sort of)**

Raine stood over Ranma with her staff, pulsating a steady white aura. He lay on one of the beds in the Izoold inn. Finally after what seemed like an eternity she ceased her work and looked up.

"He'll live."

The group released a breath they did not know they were holding. Raine tried to stand up but wobbled precariously on her feet. Fortunately Kratos steadied her before she fell.

"She needs rest. She used most of her energy keeping Ranma alive." Gently grabbing her shoulders, the swordsman guided her over to another one of the beds and laid her down. She fell asleep almost instantly.

No one spoke for a while. Finally Lloyd asked, "So…are you going to tell us what happened?"

With a sigh Kratos withdrew the Magic Lens that Ranma had given him.

"Do you know what this is?" Kratos asked.

"A magic lens of course." Genis stated acting as though he swallowed the textbook, "Using a small amount of magi-technology and mana, the lens can be used to identify a person or monster telling the wielder detailed information about them while looking through the lens. The lens also has the ability to recall the image of the subject identified."

"So it's basically like a camera?" asked Colette.

"Something like that, yes." Kratos focused on the lens for a second and a life-like miniature image of the Sword Dancer appeared on the table Kratos was seated at.

"The Sword Dancer is one of the greater demons of hell, probably banished from the underworld, Niflheim." Kratos narrated, "The likely cause of his banishment was when he was contending for the position of ultimate ruler and failed, therefore getting exiled to the over world."

"So why did it attack Ranma?" asked Lloyd.

"The thing did not attack Ranma. He chose to fight it of his own free will."

"How can you be certain?" questioned Genis.

"…I know a bit about the nature of demons. The demons will only appear to strong ones whom they believe will defeat them. When they are defeated, only then will their spirits be set free. After that, no one really knows what happens."

"But Ranma defeated him, so it should be okay right?" asked Colette anxiously.

"If only it were that simple." Mumbled Kratos, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Genis and Colette jumped. Ranma had awoken.

"I see that you have adapted very well to that exsphere. The healing technique would not have been very effective otherwise." Mused the mercenary.

Ranma cut straight to the subject, "So what's going to happen now?"

"It is very likely the Sword Dancer will fight you twice more before it finally rests, each time growing more powerful. What you fought was merely a shadow of its true power."

If there were any crickets in this world, they would have been heard clearly in that moment.

"A…a…a shadow!" Lloyd finally stammered.

"I barely defeated the first one! And I had to bring the whole mountain down on top of him too!"

Kratos was careful not to let any emotion show on his face as he delivered the final piece of news, "It gets worse."

"How on earth can it get worse?" Ranma practically shouted, then winced as his injuries made themselves known.

"As I said before the Sword Dancer only shows itself to the ones he deems worthy. Since he showed himself to you that means that you will have to fight him…alone." The last word was barely audible.

Ranma could only think of one thing, 'Why me?'

"However, it is unlikely he will be showing up in the near future. Your paths may be destined to cross again but it will be very unlikely that he will show up unless you have a chance of beating him."

The martial artist was only depressed for a few seconds before breaking out into a smile, "Guess I'll just have to train harder for the rematch."

Kratos looked him straight in the eyes, "Count on it."

Unknown Location:

The mysterious assassin known as Sheena shivered once again as she recalled the scene she had watched from the hilltop. The Chosen's group had run into the collapsing mineshaft and had returned with the same person she had fallen with.

There were two wounds on his shoulders that had pierced straight through his body. A deep gash ran along his stomach and she could see several other deep cuts along his arms and legs.

Although she had grown up in a society where fighting was commonplace, she had never seen such brutality done on one person. However there was one thought that ruled over all her others and it sent shivers up her spine.

What if Ranma hadn't been there and she had been knocked unconscious? What if she had encountered the monster in the mine?

It could have been her.

Ranma was bedridden for three days. Fortunately he was anything but bored, as Raine supplied him with a constant supply of reading material to occupy his time.

The professor had exhausted her mana healing Ranma, and had been asleep for a day straight before regaining consciousness. Raine did not accept his condition as an excuse to get away from his studies.

On the fourth day Ranma was finally allowed to get up and explore the village. Giving the Katz team stationed there a wide berth.

Izoold was not very big, smaller than Isealia in fact. Like Isealia, the town had a rural feel to it with all the hoses made from wood of some type. The town bordered on the Sylvarant Ocean making most of its income by fishing, and had a small harbor that currently had several boats docked at it.

The word was around town that no one was out on the seas anymore because of the increase in monsters. These days only the brave (or foolish, as the other sailors said behind their backs) risked the seas. It was unfortunate because the groups next destination was across that monster infested water…

However, on the fourth day Ranma found such matters trivial, as Kratos had begun to train him again. This time Lloyd was taken along for the ride.

Estimated time: 4:00AM

SPLASH!

"GAH!" shouted Ranma, awoken from his sleep.

SPLASH!

"ARGH!" shouted Lloyd, sharing Ranma's fate.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes Ranma saw Kratos setting down two wooden buckets. Beside him Lloyd was reaching for his swords in the darkness.

"Get up and get dressed you two. Meet me outside." Was all he said before throwing the two boys some clothes. Ranma, expecting the weight of the shirt Kratos had thrown easily caught it as he braced himself for the unexpected weight. Lloyd was promptly knocked flat on his back.

"Ugh…what time is it?" mumbled Lloyd as he struggled to sit up.

"I don't know. The sun isn't up yet."

"That man isn't human." Grumbled Lloyd finally getting the shirt on. Cautiously, he stood up as the fatigue slowly left him, getting a feel for the weight. Ranma immediately put on his weighted shirt and jumped out of bed. He was at 100 and had energy to spare.

"Show off."

When Ranma had traveled around the world he had many senseis and learned many things, each with their own unique style of training. He thought that he had experienced the worst training from Genma, which was just short of torture. Kratos made Genma's training look easy.

It wasn't torture per say but running in weighted clothes, up and down the Ossa trail, 50 times, killing any enemies in their path, while sparring with each other did tend to get a little tiring after a while… just a little bit.

(If you haven't guessed by now, I'm being _sarcastic_ )

After that, Kratos worked with them to perfect their techniques.

Ranma stood in a calm fighting stance, his arm extended holding a shaky ball of ki in his hands. Being pushed to the limit fighting Sword Dancer had slightly increased his stores of energy. It reminded him of that one anime he had seen about this mystic race of warriors that got stronger every time they were beaten within an inch of their life.

"You're letting too much emotion go into your ki blasts, make yourself devoid of all feelings and you will obtain more power." Tutored Kratos, "Let your emotions be like ice, giving nothing away."

'Like ice huh?' Ranma pictured ice in his mind and tried to combine it with his aura, without much success. Dropping back into his meditative stance, he began to work on clearing his mind again.

Somewhere in Joketsuzoku a certain old ghoul (WHAM!) I…er mean Matriarch sneezed suddenly as she considered teaching Shampoo the Hiru Shoten Ha.

Lloyd was going through a quick sword kata that he had made himself. His knowledge had been gained from the little Dirk knew about sword fighting (preferring to use a hammer instead) and the rest he had made himself.

The kata involved several jabs in quick succession followed by an uppercut and a down slash in midair. He had just finished when Kratos approached him.

"Lloyd, use your inner energy to increase your speed."

"How?" he asked puzzled.

"Use your exsphere as your focus and let the energy flow into your body." He explained.

Lloyd focused and the energy came into him naturally. He began starting the kata again, slowly at first but gradually moving more quickly as the ki flowed through his body. Acting on impulse he cried out, "Sword Rain!"

Almost too quick for the human eye to follow, Lloyd lashed out with his swords in several jabs. The attack was brief but very fast and effective in the few seconds it was active.

"It will do." Said Kratos as he walked over to check on Ranma.

Lloyd smiled to himself as Kratos walked away. It was probably as close to a compliment that Kratos would ever give him. All of a sudden the adrenaline rush took its toll and he fell to his knees exhausted.

"I shall now teach you how to defend yourself using your ki. Ranma, attack me with your best shot."

Ranma summoned his inner energy, "DEMON BLAST!"

"GUARDIAN!" A green field of energy surrounded Kratos briefly and the shield absorbed the ki blast harmlessly.

"The technique is called Guardian. Although it is very draining, the technique will stop almost any attack, letting the damage go to your ki instead of your body. Sustaining it for long periods of time can be very draining and could permanently damage your body, so only hold it for a few brief seconds to let the attack pass."

It wasn't hard to learn the technique. It was merely raising your battle aura, or ki, into a spherical shape to defend against attacks on all sides. By the end of the day both Ranma and Lloyd were able to raise a weak ki barrier. Kratos told them that with practice they would get better at it.

It was around midday when Lloyd and Ranma awoke from their near unconscious states. While they had been resting Raine and Genis had scouted around the town looking for a ship. However the only person brave (or stupid) enough to take them out to sea was currently at Palmacosta and would not be back until the next day.

Fortunately this gave Ranma the time he needed to do his task…

Raine looked up from the book she was reading to see Ranma standing over her.

"What is it Ranma?"

"Um…well I never really thanked you for saving my life and all that. Without you I would have been a goner."

"Your welcome," she responded, "So what did you really want to ask me?"

'Man she's sharp,' thought Ranma, "Well… I couldn't help but notice how useful those spells were, and I was wondering if you…could teach me magic." He finished.

Raine pondered for a moment, "Normally I would be willing to teach you but there are some complications."

"Like what?"

"First of all, only people with elvin blood can use magic, with exceptions like Colette."

"Oh, well I'm pretty sure I'm all human so thanks anyway."

"Hold on a second," Raine moved behind Ranma and placed her hands on his shoulders, "I'm going to run a quick aura scan on you."

Raine fell into a meditative posture and scanned Ranma's aura. She looked at the powerful lines of ki that coursed through his body from his core. Examining the core of his ki she found it nearly pure white with some traces of blue. Just looking at it gave her a feeling of confidence.

Then she looked past the ki and saw… darkness. There was a faint meow every now and then and occasionally a pair of yellow eyes shown through.

'That must be the Neko-Ken,' she thought, ' However that is a battle for another time.'

Looking around further she came across a gray barrier, not a walled off section of the mind but part of the mind that was sealed by a third party.

'Now who would have done this?' thought Raine, 'Oh well, maybe I should ask Ranma before I remove it.'

Outside…

Raine suddenly opened her eyes, "Ranma, did you know that part of your mind has been sealed off?"

Ranma digested that, "WHAT! You're telling me that someone's been messing with my mind?"

"Yes. Usually those seals are placed there for a good reason, such as to seal away inner demons or erase painful memories. Other times they can be used to lock certain abilities such as a berserkers blood lust."

"Remove it."

"Are you sure? The person who did it made the seal to last a lifetime."

"That seal was put there without my knowledge or permission. Please remove it."

Raine placed her hands on his shoulders again, "Okay, but I warn you, this is going to hurt."

Inside…

The professor began to trace lines on the barrier in an intricate pattern, with an accuracy gained through years of practice. With a final line and a shout of "Dispel!" the barrier shattered and the energy burst forth.

Outside Ranma doubled over feeling as though white fire was coursing through his veins. The pain only lasted for a second but it was enough to make any grown person faint. Of course…this is Ranma.

The martial artist got up and brushed himself off, "Well it sure felt like it worked." He mumbled.

"So what did that do?" he asked the healer.

"I'll have to check again," explained Raine, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Eh, I'm fine. So what did that do to me?" he asked again.

Raine did another scan. Everything seemed to be the same, his ki core seemed largely unaffected but right next to the core…

The professor shook her head, there was no way what she was seeing was real! Quickly looking at his blood stream she saw the telltale signs. There was no denying it.

Ranma looked over at Raine as he felt her break the connection, "What is it?"

Raine was staring at him shocked. She mumbled something that Ranma was unable to hear.

"Sorry professor, I didn't quite catch that."

Raine closed her eyes and composed herself before looking at Ranma.

"I didn't think it was possible but there's no mistaking it."

"Mistaking what?" asked Ranma starting to get frustrated.

"Ranma…you're one quarter elf."

"I'm **WHAT?"**

A/N: Ooh a cliffhanger. Just kidding.

Kratos looked at the man seated across the table from him.

"If you need a ship, mine is the fastest one you'll find anywhere across Sylvarant. My ship the Centennial Hawk goes .5 past sailing speed."

The mercenary sighed as he listened to the man ramble on about how great his ship was. Finally he interrupted, "How much to get to Palmacosta?"

"Nothing."

All of the swordsman's senses were immediately on high alert, "Nothing?"

"Well, nothing… except protection."

Kratos caught the slight twitch of the man's hand. "Protection from what?"

"Well…er you know…the sea monsters and all that."

He knew the man wasn't telling him everything but he also knew that he wasn't going to get a better offer.

"Agreed then."

"I'm one quarter elf? How?" The martial artist was pacing up and down the beach rambling to himself.

"I'm not sure Ranma, but it means that your parents were either both quarter elves to begin with, or one of them was human while the other was a half elf."

"But both my parents were human! At least I'm sure my pop was. I never saw my mother."

"It could be that you mom was a half elf," provided Raine.

"Well, maybe, but I doubt it. Pops would have told me something like that."

"Maybe your mom never told him."

"Or it could be that they aren't my real parents."

Raine stood up from her sitting position and halted Ranma's pacing, "We don't have enough information to go on just yet."

Ranma nodded his head. What she said made sense.

"So…since I'm a quarter-elf and all, can I learn magic now?" He was smiling like an eager child now, his earlier depression forgotten.

Raine gave a small laugh, "I suppose so. Although you may need to get help from Genis too."

A/N: I tried to update my other stories but I just couldn't stay away from this one. My thanks go to all of you who reviewed my last chapter and my curses go to the FF.nazi who said you couldn't respond to reviews in your story. Oh well. Just make sure to leave a signed review so I can respond to any questions.

OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE OMAKE

"If only it were that simple." Mumbled Kratos, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Genis and Colette jumped. Ranma had awoken.

"I see that you have adapted very well to that exsphere. The healing technique would not have been very effective otherwise." Mused the mercenary.

Ranma cut straight to the subject, "So what's going to happen now?"

"Now that you have defeated it once…"

"Yes…"

"It will seek you out again…"

"Yes…"

"And try to marry you since you defeated it in combat."

"Yeah…WHAT! What kind of a stupid law is that!"

Somewhere near Jusenkyou a Matriarch sneezed.

END OMAKE

Preview of Next Chapter…

"Pirates!"

"Stupid Desians!"

"Lousy imposters!" (For real this time)

"What's a Kraken?"

Happy Holidays!


	45. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 14

A/N: The following scene contains content unsuitable for flamers. If you have the intention of burning my story then I suggest that you press the back button on your browser and leave now.

Now without further ado, I present:

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Chapter 14: A Time of Thought**

 **And…**

 **Aboard the Centennial Hawk**

"Do you really expect us to get to Palmacosta on that thing?"

"…He was the only one who would take the job on short notice." Muttered Kratos.

"I think I'd rather take the long notice and the better ship myself."

The Centennial Hawk only appeared seaworthy, in the sense that it was on the sea, and not currently sinking. Ranma had seen boats before, they had nearly hit him on his journey to China, but this had to be the ugliest piece of junk ever to touch the ocean.

Entire portions of the ship had been patched over with various pieces of metal from several different structures. Pieces of shrapnel jutted out on odd places and Ranma was even convinced he saw some shingles from a house roof covering part of the ships hull.

The sail of the ship seemed like on big patch. It may have been white at one time but so many different sections of it had been repaired the original color had been lost.

"I don't like the look of this," said Raine nervously.

"I'd feel safer swimming." Said Ranma quietly.

"Quit your bellyaching!"

The sharp voice came from behind Ranma, making him jump. He wasn't the only one as Lloyd had his sword pointed at the man's throat.

"She may not look like much but she's as sturdy as they come," the man casually gripped Lloyd's sword between his thumb and forefinger and slowly moved the point away from his neck.

"So, what's your name?" asked Colette.

"The names Han. Han Duo at your service. The boat may wreck, people may die, and the ship may be upside-down but by got I'll get you there."

Needless to say this didn't reassure them.

Everyone stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Han Duo spoke up again, "Well come on, what are you waiting for?"

Not surprisingly it was Ranma who stepped forward first. He stepped on the plank testing its weight, finally putting his entire body on it.

"Seems okay." He said to no one in particular. Confident, he took a step forward…

 **CRASH!**

And fell into the water below.

"Hmm. Should have seen that one coming." Mumbled Han Duo.

An hour later the chosen's group had climbed on board and they had set sail. Kratos said the voyage was to take three days and they would spend the night on the seas.

"Three days?" Raine almost shouted.

"Well, normally we would be there by tomorrow night, but…" Kratos cast a glace at the dingy sail.

Raine merely shook her head and walked off muttering under her breath, "I knew this journey would put me on a boat sooner or later…" Only Ranma heard her.

Genis had other problems, "Hey Duo, where are we going to sleep? This boat doesn't even look like it can support our weight let alone have enough room for us to bunk."

"Well I'm sorry my ships to tiny for ya," He replied tartly, "Explore it yourself if you've got a mind to."

Genis wandered off down below also mumbling to himself.

"Um Mr. Duo?"

A twitch was starting to develop in the captain's eye, "Yes?"

"Do you have a bathroom on board? The ship seems so small…"

Han Duo clenched his fist his reply forcibly cheerful, "Go down below and use the first door on the left."

"Yo, Han Duo!" called Ranma.

"Are you here to complain about the ship too?" he asked pleasantly, the twitch in his eyes gave him away however.

"No actually, I was wondering what you had to eat on this dump."

Han merely grunted and threw something at him. Ranma caught it by reflex and found a fishing rod in his hand.

"Eat all ya want." He said grumpily and stalked off.

With a sigh Ranma baited his hook and cast the line.

 _It's quit the world I've been thrown into._ Thought Ranma to himself, _I don't really think I've had time to think about it till now._

He felt a small tug on the end of the line. Performing a quick tug, Ranma found a tiny fish on the end of the line. Releasing the hook from its mouth he threw it back into the water.

 _It's hard to believe that I've only been here for about 2 weeks. With all these crazy adventures going on it seems like 2 months._

Feeling a large tug this time, Ranma casually flicked his wrist and sent the fish sailing into the metal bucket that lay beside him.

 _It's also been a while since I stayed in the same company for longer than a week. Pops moved us around so much I didn't have time to make friends._

He briefly entertained himself with the thought of his old buddy Ukyo but quickly banished that though.

 _It's not like I'm going to get back any time soon. Those gods Kratos spoke of seem to be more myth than reality. But then again, do I even want to go back? I have people here that I can call friends. Even Raine isn't so bad, once you get to know her._

Raine often played the part of cold cruel professor but underneath that she was really a caring person. One only had to look at Genis to figure that out.

 _And Kratos, man. He's a far better trainer than pops ever was. And pops always said to take training opportunities whenever you could._

Ranma began to let his mind wander. He thought about his elfin ancestry and his time at Jusenkyou. Now that he had time to sort his thoughts out he remembered his time clearly. _I guess I really owe that goddess a favor. Who knows? If I hadn't come to this world I could of ended up falling in the spring of drowned pig or something. Even so, I kinda miss…_ "Penny for your thoughts?" Ranma looked up from his thinking to find Genis standing beside him. Even sitting down Genis was barely taller than him. "Just thinking." He replied mildly. 

"Bout what?" Genis took a seat next to him.

"Well…stuff," he replied cautiously.

"I see." Genis had replied in a voice that belied his true age, "Your homesick aren't you."

Ranma looked at him strangely for a few seconds, "Has anyone ever told you your pretty darn perceptive?"

"I think everyone's suffering from it actually," he continued, "Raine and I haven't really been far out of town and I know Lloyd and Colette haven't even been to the desert until the journey had started. I don't know about Kratos though."

"He's a mercenary. He probably doesn't have a home."

They sat there in silence for a few more minutes looking at the waves.

"What do you think of Colette?" asked Genis suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, what do you think of her as the Chosen of Mana?"

Ranma thought carefully about his answer before he replied. This was not a time to stick his foot in his mouth.

"Well, she really has her heart in it. She's a bit of a klutz but she's not stuck up like some of the other priests and holy people that I've met. She's really determined and I think that's a good quality for someone destined to save the earth."

"You really think so?"

"Well…yeah. People always told me I suck at lying…"

They sat there in silence for a few minutes looking at the waves. Occasionally Ranma would jerk the rod and send a fish flying into the bucket.

"Where is everyone?" asked Ranma suddenly.

"Lloyd's asleep. He said that Kratos worked him to death this morning and he probably wont wake until tomorrow, and if I know anything about my sis, she's asleep with her head under a pillow."

"She gets seasick?" asked Ranma surprised.

"Yeah, she tries to hide it but everyone can see it." He joked.

"What about Colette?"

"She's listening to us."

Ranma turned around quickly and saw a head of blond hair ducking behind a corner.

"Come on and join us Colette." Genis patted the ground next to him.

Nervously, Colette came out of hiding and sat down next to Genis, "Um Ranma? We're you serious when you said that about me?" she asked timidly.

"Of course I was!" Ranma said quickly, "I don't know of a better person who could take your place! Not that I've met many people…but still!"

Colette smiled one of her special smiles that she reserved only for her friends, "Thanks Ranma. That really makes me feel better."

'Wow she sure does look cute when she smiles,' thought Ranma. Just as quickly, he banished the thought.

His train of thought was interrupted by a gigantic tug on the fishing line that nearly ripped the rod from his hand. Ranma immediately stood up and tugged on the rod with all his might, still not making any progress. The thing on the other end was slowly pulling him overboard.

Hands gripped his shoulders; Colette had grabbed him to try and help pull the fishing rod back, which was threatening to break from the pressure.

"What the hell is on this line?" Ranma shouted.

"I don't know but its tough!" Genis responded.

"Colette! Go wake Lloyd! I don't think I can take this by myself." Shouted Ranma. Although it was not in his nature to ask for help, he really lost a lot of his ego when he faced the Sword Dancer. And anything that could match him in strength was trouble in and of itself.

"Hold on a bit longer." Genis shouted. From the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed a purple aura surrounding the kid who had brought his kendama out. A few seconds later a shout of "LIGHTNING" heralded the coming of a blue bolt of energy.

The shock hit the water and all was still. Hearing several feet behind them, Ranma turned to find Han Duo, Kratos, Lloyd, and Colette behind them. Even Raine was there, albeit a little queasy.

"What happened?" asked Kratos.

Ranma shrugged, "Don't know. Something grabbed on to the line and I don't think it was a fish."

Kratos grabbed the line and yanked upwards on it. Everyone recoiled as they saw an unmoving tentacle wrapped around the fishing line.

The mercenary was the only person who was not surprised, "So I suppose this is the protection part of the deal then?" He spoke directly to captain Duo.

"Err…well, yes."

"The ferryman asks a high price," he mumbled to no one in particular. Dropping the line back into the water, Kratos drew his sword and released the holds on his battle aura. Everyone around him followed suit.

"What are we fighting?" asked Raine. Her seasickness was gone; in its place was the cool commanding woman that Ranma knew of.

"My guess would be," Several hundred tentacles broke the surface of the water, surrounding the boat, "A kraken." He finished calmly.

"What's a Kraken?" shouted Ranma.

"A large sea monster with a lot of tentacles." Said Captain Duo simply.

As one the tentacles attacked the boat, causing Chaos everywhere. Around the ship people were franticly dodging the whip like appendages, getting an attack in here and there. Captain Duo had even taken an oar and was beating any that came within reach.

Several times the Kraken had tried to crush the boat by wrapping its tentacles around it but was thwarted by Kratos and Raine's quick thinking and actions. Then it got smart.

SMASH!

"What was that?" shouted Lloyd.

"He just punched a hole in the boat!" shouted Genis.

Captain Duo came up behind Kratos and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I need your help."

"Obviously." He responded curtly.

Duo ignored the jibe, "I can protect this boat but I need more power. I need you to form a mana link with me."

Kratos briefly closed his eyes and flashed white to the naked eye. Captain Duo also flashed white as his ki registered Kratos' power.

"Don't take too long."

Tuning out the noise around him, Captain Duo sat in the middle of the ship and closed his eyes.

"What the hell is he doing?" shouted Lloyd.

Ranma beat off another attacking tentacle and looked at Han.

"Ouch!" Ranma blinked several times to get the spots out of his eyes. Reaching around for a nearby water source, Ranma found a small pool of water and splashed some of it into his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"That guys throwing off more power than Kratos!"

Although he couldn't quite sense chi yet, Duo was throwing off enough power for anyone to see if they looked carefully enough.

The Kraken had not been idle while Duo was meditating. It had punched another two holes in the boat and water was starting to leak in.

"The ship ain't gonna hold out much longer!"

"Brace yourself! Here it comes again!"

The largest tentacle yet had lifted itself out of the water, poised to smash down in the middle of the boat.

"We can't stop it!"

The tentacle paused in the middle of the air as if to build up tension, then fell into the middle of the ship…

BOING!

Only to rebound back as if it had hit a rubber wall.

"What happened?" asked Ranma.

"A major protection spell." Said Raine, who had come up behind him, "It's an easy spell to cast but Captain Duo put a barrier on the whole ship. I cant even make it that powerful!"

The kraken was not the smartest beast ever to walk the earth. He tried several more times to hit the ship, but was stopped by the barrier each time.

"How long is this thing going to hold?"

"About 10 minutes." Kratos had joined them and was looking overboard at the shadow of the Kraken in the water, "We hope it's going to be enough time for that thing to loose interest."

"Not likely," said Captain Duo, "That things been out for me blood at least 3 years now."

"3 years?" shouted Lloyd, "What the hell did you do to piss that thing off?"

"Its not my fault! He overreacted!"

Raine sighed, "We're not solving anything right now, we need to come up with a course of action."

"How about a concentrated lightning spell?" asked Ranma, "The water should be able to conduct it down to his body and stun him. We could channel energy into Genis like we did before."

"That might work, but a regular lightning spell, no matter how concentrated, would be like throwing rocks at it. The rubbery skin on the body is semi-resistant to electricity that doesn't pierce the skin." Explained Kratos.

"How about we enchant someone's blade with lightning then?" asked Duo, "Then we can pierce the demons hide."

"Sounds good. I'll do the piercing." Lloyd unsheathed his swords and handed them to Kratos.

"Genis, watch how I do this so you can do the same thing to the other sword."

"This isn't a time for lessons," shouted Ranma. The Kraken had renewed its attack on the barrier, each strike making a loud ringing sound.

"Think of it has hands on experience!"

'If this is hands on experience then I'd hate to see what he thinks a real fight is.' Thought Ranma.

"Lord Rodyle!"

"Enter."

A desian shaman entered the office. He looked like a normal desian except for the gold insignia he wore on his helmet. Instead of the usual sword or crossbow that was assigned to the grunts, the captain held a staff that singled him out as a magic user.

"What news do you bring?" asked Rodyle.

"The chosen's party is crossing the ocean to Palmacosta. They are on a slow ship so it will take them an estimated three days."

Rodyle put his hand to his chin in thought, "Who is with the chosen?"

The shaman brought out a folder and placed it on the desk, "Our spies weren't able to get much. We have confirmed however, that Lloyd Irving of the angelus project, and Ranma Saotome, an escaped ranch prisoner, are aboard that vessel."

"Saotome? Of _that_ project?"

"The very same sir."

Rodyle turned to the giant map of Sylvarant placed behind his desk. Taking out a few pins, he placed them on the map, showing the chosen's position.

"I want our pirate unit to intercept them before they reach the port. At their rate of speed we can take them…here." He placed a red pin on the map.

"It will be done sir."

"I'm telling you man, this is the best gig yet. She even looks like the chosen!"

"I dunno man. Impersonating Ranma seems like a bad idea to me. You did hear that he broke out of the Iselia Human Ranch right?"

"He'll never know! As long as we travel faster then them we can mark them as the imposters. Its foolproof!"

"So what happens if we get caught?"

"Don't worry, we wont."

"…Alright I'm in."

To be continued…

A/N: Well that was a bit different from the original storyline ne? Once again, please read and review the story, I want to know where my mistakes are.

At this point I'll probably go back and redo some of the older chapters. I went back and read them myself and I couldn't believe how many mistakes I made. Oh well. It's spring break now so I have a good amount of time on my hands to write to my hearts content.

Till next time.


	46. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 15

A/N: Welcome back! After a long wait, I have finally decided to update "Ranma and the Land of Symphonia." The thing is, as I was writing this story, I realized that the name "Ranma and the Land of Symphonia" is a bit much for a story title, so I'm currently trying to find an alternate name. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to hear them. Without further ado, on with the story.

 **Chapter 15: Battle Against the Kraken**

 **And**

 **Desian's Desires**

Ranma watched as Kratos released controlled lightning in his hand into the blade, as if persuading it that the blade was where it wanted to go. Instead of a fast concentrated stream, it was a slow and graceful, like putting the finishing touches on a meal. Beside Kratos, Genis was doing the same thing to Lloyd's other blade, albeit a little less graceful.

Meanwhile, while the Kraken couldn't penetrate the ship, the passengers on board did not have such protection. The Kraken also seemed to realize this and started going for the people.

"How much dodge longer do duck you need?" yelled Ranma, furiously dodging the whip like tentacles.

"30 seconds, hold on!"

"Genis! Look out!"

The elf had just stood up from enchanting Lloyd's sword only to see a particularly thick tentacle coming at him. With no time to duck, he put his hands in front of his face...

 **PUSH**

Only to be knocked out of the way at the last minute by Lloyd. The tentacle smacked into Lloyd and sent him flying into the side of the boat, unconscious.

"LLOYD!" Genis stood up and rushed over to his friend.

"He's ok," said Raine calmly, coming up beside him, "Get him below deck before he gets thrown overboard."

"Ranma! Catch!" Ranma turned just in time to catch Lloyd's swords by the hilts, "I hope you know how to use them," said Kratos as he drew his sword and cut at the tentacles.

Although the practice of anything goes forbade the use of weapons, they weren't completely ignorant of them. After all, the best way to counter a style was to know it and practice it. Therefore, Ranma knew the basics of several sword forms.

The lightning that raced along the blade briefly shocked Ranma's hand, almost making him drop it, but then lessened to a small tingle, as if welcoming him as a kindred spirit.

"I'll be back in a minute!" shouted Ranma as he jumped over the side of the boat.

"You have 30 seconds."

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Ranma dove gracefully off the side of the boat, the two swords enchanted with lightning in each hand. The water was at a near freezing temperature, but he quickly adjusted to it, subconsciously using his aura to heat up his body. Swimming carefully so as to not impale himself with Lloyd's swords, Ranma made his way into the depths to where the Kraken's head was.

The sight of the Kraken's body nearly made him drop the swords.

Nearly 10 feet underwater was the body of the beast, looking like an oversized squid, with its enormous and countless appendages reaching up towards the boat that seemed miniature in comparison. With its sheer size it could have easily pulled the entire boat underwater without even having to break through the hull or deal with its protection spells. Seeing as it hadn't done that quite yet, Ranma had to assume that the beast was just plain stupid. A lucky break for them.

The beast also had a single eye, swamp green, clearly seen even through the murky depths of the water, giving off an eerie glow. But perhaps the worst part was its mouth, a gaping maw of teeth the size of his hand. It was a sight that he wouldn't soon forget.

It was a good thing that the Kraken's attention was fully on the ship. He didn't believe that he would have had as easy a time with it if the things attention were focused on him. Swimming as quickly as he could, Ranma got close to the monster without going into the view of its eye. With a shout of triumph, he drove both swords into the back of the Kraken.

The effect was near instantaneous. All of the tentacles seemed to lock up as the volts traveled up and down the length of its body, the electricity conducting quite well in the water.

Then, as if in slow motion, the whole body of the beast retreated down under the water.

Ranma would have watched longer, but he was suddenly reminded of his need for air. With a last glance, he kicked his feet and rose to the surface, the enchanted blades tightly in hand.

But the Kraken wasn't done yet.

Faster than Ranma could ever move through water, one last whip like tentacle sped towards Ranma, wrapping itself around his neck, cutting off his already limited air supply. In panic, Ranma brought his hands to his neck, furiously grabbing at the slippery appendage. Lloyd's swords, dropped in the surprise attack, sank to the bottom of the sea.

11111111111111111111

Back up on deck, everyone was regrouping from the attack. Although the battle had barely lasted 5 minutes, everything on deck was knocked over and several pints of water had gotten on board. The holes in the ship needed to be patched up and...

"Ship off the starboard side!" shouted Captain Duo from the crows nest.

"Um..." Lloyd scratched his head, "What's starboard?"

"It's on your right!" Everyone turned right and saw nothing, "No you fools! Your other right!"

Everyone turned left and saw nothing.

"Bloody hell! Its right there!" Captain Duo pointed towards the front of the boat.

Sure enough, there was a ship coming towards them, but unlike the sailboats and fishing-boats that were seen commonly in the harbors of small villages, this one had metallic plating on it, and was traveling towards them faster than any sailboat could go.

"That's a Desian battle cruiser." Said Kratos gravely, "It seems that the Desians know who is on this boat."

Suddenly, Lloyd had another revelation, "Guys! Where's Ranma?"

There was a seconds pause and then...

SPLASH!

SPLASH!

Kratos and Lloyd were in the water.

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 _Cant...breathe..._

Oxygen was becoming a pleasant memory down in the murky depths of Ranma's prison. His mouth was filled with water and he could almost feel his lungs collapsing. Desperate, he tried to mount a ki blast, but his concentration was rapidly fading.

 _Need...air..._

The surface was a mere three feet away, but the super strong grip of the Kraken had halted his progress permanently. As a last ditch hope, he tried to mount a last offensive against the beast. He searched his body for any energy he had left.

And it came.

The last traces of his mental blocks became undone. Suddenly lightning was arcing all across his body, his eyes turning a brilliant shade of violet and sending a stream of controlled electricity through his body and into the tentacle. For a brief moment the tentacle seized up, and then fell limply back into the depths of the sea, defeated at last. Ranma only had time to give off his trademark grin before blacking out from the lack of air.

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On Deck...

'Kratos, wherever you are, hurry your ass up!' thought Captain Duo franticly as he watched the Desian warship get closer and closer. With Ranma, Lloyd, and Kratos overboard, they couldn't move their ship, effectively making them sitting ducks.

The only answer the sea gave was several bubbles rising to the surface.

'Damn. I hate to do this, but I think the only option we have is to jump ship, but if the Desians see us then we'll be killed! Unless...'

Captain Duo cast a furtive glance at the Desian warship before making up his mind. 

"Everyone! Get below deck! We're jumping ship!"

"How we gonna jump ship below deck?"

"Just shut up and trust me!"

Moving quickly, the chosen's group moved below deck into Captain Duo's cabin. The captain then proceeded to tear apart his bunk, sending sheets and feathers flying everywhere.

"What are you doing?"

"A year ago I installed a trap door just for occasions like this when I needed to jump ship without being seen."

"And why on earth would you ever need to do that?"

"Well, it's easier than kicking a hole in the side of my boat like last time."

Captain Duo pulled away the frame of the bunk and revealed a trap door. Gripping the handle he tried pulling it with no success.

"Damn! It's rusted shut!"

There was a huge crash and everyone had to brace themselves as the ship rocked violently.

"The Desians are here!" shouted Colette.

"Move," Commanded Raine in a tone of absolute authority.

Captain Duo did what any man in his situation would do and got the hell out of the way.

 **SMASH!**

The trap door flew off its hinges, along with a good portion of the starboard side.

Captain Duo mumbled something about price gouging bastards before addressing the crew again, "Alright, everyone jump!"

One by one, each member of the crew jumped through the sizeable hole that Raine had made. Finally, only Raine and Duo were left.

"Um…" started Raine nervously, turning back to look at Duo, "Is this a bad time to tell you that I can't swim?"

The captain resisted the urge to facefault. Such a maneuver would waste valuable time. Instead, he smiled at her, "Yep. I don't think you could have picked a worse time."

With that, he grabbed Raine by the waist and jumped overboard, just as the Desians broke down the door.

11111111111111111111

 **SPLASH!**

Raine flailed around franticly for a few seconds, looking for something to grab on to, only relaxing when her hands found the trap door she had kicked out moments earlier.

"Well, now what do we do?" asked Colette.

Captain Duo turned to Colette to see that she had her angel wings out and was hovering above the water. 'Lucky girl.'

"We sit, wait, and hope for someone to rescue us." Explained Captain Duo simply.

"And just how long is that going to take?" sputtered Genis, trying to spit out a mouthful of water his impromptu dive had given him.

Duo shrugged and began floating on his back, "Don't know, could be a day or a week. I was out here for 10 days once before someone found me and gave me something to eat."

 **SPLASH!**

It was at that moment Kratos and Lloyd surfaced, dragging a waterlogged and unconscious Ranma in tow.

"Yeah? Well I have a better plan." Commented Kratos, "Colette, do you think you can carry Lloyd?"

11111111111111111111

"Commander!"

"What is it? Have you finished your search of the ship yet?"

"Yes sir. The chosen's group and the captain of the ship are gone

"What? Impossible!"

Another soldier came up behind the first and confirmed the report, "It's true sir. We searched the whole ship and there's no trace of anybody. It does look like the ship has been attacked though. Someone may have gotten here before us."

"Could they have jumped ship?"

"Unlikely sir. We had their ship in view the whole time they were on deck. We would have known if they had jumped or not." Said the first Desian.

"But what about all the holes in the ship? Maybe they could have jumped through one of those!"

"And I'm telling you that we were at the perfect angle on their ship to see where they would have jumped off!"

"Silence," ordered the commander, "Our orders are to bring the Chosen back alive and unharmed. I want this ship torn apart and searched, and then I want you to check the waters within 5 miles of this ship. They couldn't have gotten far."

11111111111111111111

Colette breathed heavily with effort as she hauled Lloyd over the railing of the Desian warship. Exhausted, she slowly sank down back to water, giving Lloyd a reassuring nod before disappearing from view.

Taking the sword Kratos had loaned him, Lloyd snuck up behind an unsuspecting guard who was watching the proceedings on the Centennial Hawk and not paying attention to his surroundings.

Not even his helmet could protect him from the blunt trauma that Lloyd caused when he brought the hilt down upon the guys head.

While Lloyd could bring himself to kill people when he had to, he couldn't really bring himself to stab someone in the back. Taking a moment to make sure he was knocked out, Lloyd looked around for some type of rope he could use.

Spying the life preserver on the side of the ship, Lloyd quickly cut the rope off, not bothering with the knots, and tied it to the railing. Then he threw the rope overboard.

Kratos climbed up, followed shortly by Genis and Raine, the latter looking like she wanted to throw up over the rail.

Finally, Colette who was still in the water tied the rope around Ranma, allowing Kratos and Lloyd to haul him up.

As soon as Ranma was brought over the rail, Raine immediately went to work checking his vital signs and administering healing.

"How is he?" asked Kratos.

"He'll live. His lungs just need to cough up the water."

As if to prove her point, Ranma suddenly sat up hacking up seawater. The coughing went on for a few seconds before he could coherently talk again.

"Ranma? Are you ok? What happened down there?" asked Colette, fawning over him.

"Drove it…off…hopefully…"

"Keep watch over him," Commanded Kratos, "I'm going to have a word with the captain of the ship," bending down to the knocked out Desian, he unsheathed his sword and threw it to Lloyd. Then, with two swift blows, he knocked away the planks the Desians had used to board their ship.

11111111111111111111

10 minutes later…

"Bloody hell, I had to abandon another boat," Muttered Captain Duo under his breath, "and I was still making payments on it too."

Ranma sweat dropped but said nothing.

"Where's Kratos?" he asked after a bit.

"Talking to the captain."

"Indeed. And he has agreed to let us ride free."

Everyone turned to Kratos, who had the captain of the ship at sword point, with several minor cuts and gashes.

"In fact, after some debate, he agreed to give us the ship and vacate the premises immediately." With that, Kratos placed a solid kick in the man's back and sent him overboard.

"Most of the troops, along with the captain of the guard, are on our ship and unfortunately, they have no way to get back."

It was true. Han Duo's ship was about half the size of the Desian warship, making travel between the two ships difficult without the planks Kratos had knocked into the ocean.

"Ranma, Lloyd! I want this ship cleared of Desians. Search everywhere, including bunks and storage rooms. The main fighting force may be on Duo's ship but I don't want to be surprised later."

Ranma gave a mock salute in reply and ran off with Lloyd in tow.

"Captain Duo, do you think you can drive one of these things?"

"Aye, well it can't be too difficult."

"Then you'll follow me to the bridge."

"Wait," cut in Genis, "What about us?"

"You'll go down to storage and salvage anything you can. Lloyd also needs a new set of swords so check the armory if they have one here. "

11111111111111111111

"Commander!"

"What?"

"Our ship is leaving!"

"WHAT?"

"I said our ship is…"

"I didn't tell you to repeat that! Where the hell is the captain of the ship?"

"Right here sir." Two Desians supporting a third walked up to the captain.

"Co…man…der…" the wounded man breathed heavily, "Chosen's…group…took ship. Sorry."

The man's head slumped down on his shoulders, his eyes closed.

The commander turned away from the captain and mentally swore to himself, "Well, there goes my career down the drain."

Sighing to himself and preparing himself for a long task ahead of him, he asked, "Can anyone here use a sailboat?"

No one replied.

'Well I suppose it could be worse.'

 **GOOSH!**

There was an explosion of water on the starboard side of the ship. Everyone turned to see what caused the disturbance. When the water cleared, a huge tentacle was visible.

'Aw hell.'

11111111111111111111

The chosen's group watched solemnly as the Kraken crumpled up the wooden boat like tissue paper.

"That's odd, I thought I drove it off." Commented Ranma airily.

"Nothing keeps that beastie down for long," said Captain Duo at the helm of the ship, "Believe me, I've tried everything from cannonballs to lightning blades. The most I've ever been able to do is stun 'er for a while."

"How long has that thing been after you?" asked Raine.

"Oh, I'm going on about 8 years now."

"And how many ships have you gone through?" questioned Genis.

"Well, counting this one, my twentieth."

"You're planning on keeping this?"

"Sure! Why not? It's faster than any other boat I've owned."

"And it will also get you shot on sight if anybody sees it." Commented Kratos.

"Well, that be a risk I'm willing to take."

Seeing as how there was nothing left to say, everyone turned back towards the ruins of the ship, which was little more that driftwood now.

"You boys can rest easy now. It'll be a month or two before the beast catches my sent again."

11111111111111111111

Ranma sat in his new cabin, going through the meditative kata that Kratos had taught him.

Down in the water, he had been able to grasp something separate from his ki, and it was solid confirmation of his elvin ancestry. However, he had no idea where that came from.

Puzzling over that would be pointless though. He wanted to learn how to use it, no matter where it came from. Looking into his core where his ki was, he found the other energy, weak, but present.

It was not part of his ki though. The magic energy had a separate core and different roots.

'Well, it should handle like ki though…'

Taking some of the energy, he pictured the lightning he used down in the ocean and channeled it through his body to his hand.

 **BZZZZZT!**

Anyone who was watching could have sworn they could've seen Ranma's skeleton flash as lightning coursed all over his body, dropping his electrocuted self down onto the cabin floor, unconscious.

11111111111111111111

"Hey!"

Ranma grumbled to himself as he strained to open his eyes. Something was poking him in the side but he didn't want to make the effort to move.

"HEY!"

A hard jab to the side woke Ranma out of his daze. He looked around to see Genis poking him in the side with his Kendamma.

"Genis! What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you. After that catastrophe with your magic like that, I'm surprised you were only out for an hour."

"Wh-what happened?"

"You tried channeling your magic energy through your body. Your lucky you tried lightning first, otherwise you could have been much worse off."

"What I'd do wrong?"

"You pictured the element you wanted before you had a good hold on the magic energy. This caused the element to run through your whole body."

For a second, Ranma wondered what might have happened if he had tried to use fire…and just as quickly decided he didn't want to know.

"Can you teach me…to do it the right way then?"

"I suppose I'd better before you kill yourself. I dunno how good of a teacher I'll be though."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You've mastered it."

"Yeah but doing something and teaching something are two different things entirely. Besides, it feels awkward teaching someone older than me."

Ranma snorted, " I learned a long time ago, that when any type of art is concerned, its skill, not age that makes the person. Back where I came from, I beat up plenty of people who were older than me. There was this one man in particular…"

11111111111111111111

ACHOO!

Genma sniffed and rubbed his nose.

'Hmm, someone must be talking about me.'

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A/N: Wow, its four AM in the morning and I just finished this chapter. I hope that this shows how dedicated I am to my writing.

Ranma: Oh please. If you were that dedicated you'd update more than once a month.

ClanCrusher: Oh shutup.


	47. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Chapter 16

ClanCrusher: Welcome back to another installment of-

WHAM!

Lloyd: Where the hell have you been?

ClanCrusher (Holding his head): Ow! I've been busy okay? Yeesh, cut a guy a break will ya?

Lloyd: It's been FOUR YEARS! What's wrong with you?

ClanCrusher: Would you believe life-threatening disease?

Lloyd: No.

ClanCrusher: Journey of self-discovery?

Lloyd: Try again.

ClanCrusher: Lot's of rigorous school and education?

Lloyd: Even if that was true, I don't care. There's your laptop. Start writing.

ClanCrusher: Fine.

* * *

 **Off the Coast of Palmacosta**

"So Kratos," began Ranma casually as he looked at the approaching shore of Palmacosta. "Desians are basically the most universally hated generic bad guys on the face of Sylvarant, right?"

"Correct."

"And we're cruising towards a town that has been in a constant battle with these Desians for years, right?"

"Indeed."

"So what are the odds that us, in this Desian warship, are going to be on the end of a rather large but comical misunderstanding with the good guys thinking we're the bad guys?"

Kratos sighed as he spotted the shiny armor of several guards lining the docks, weapons at the ready. "I think today is going to be a rather long day."

"And I think it might be just about time to abandon another ship," said Han Duo, coming up from behind. "Ah well, she was good while she lasted."

Ranma sweat dropped. "You haven't even owned her for a day."

"I don't like long drawn out goodbyes," he said in a nostalgic voice. "Staying attached to any girl for too long is bad for your health after all."

WHAP!

Han Duo recoiled from Raine's blow to the back of his skull.

"Ow! Dammit woman I meant the ship! The ship!" he protested while rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure you did," said Raine, unbelieving. "This does cause a few problems though. Hopefully they'll allow us time to explain the situation."

"It's not like we're wearing Desian uniforms or anything," said Lloyd, joining them on the deck.

"You'd be surprised what fear can do to people," responded Kratos, eyes warily scanning the assembled troops. "Makes them jump to conclusions and do stupid things."

"And nothing sets people on edge like Desians," finished Raine.

The air was silent as the ship slowly pulled into the docks. The area was devoid of civilians and the kiosks that usually held shops were closed down. Everything seemed to be awaiting the arrival of the Desian warship.

Everyone followed behind Kratos, weapons ready but not drawn, as the leader of the platoon approached them.

He appraised them carefully. "You don't look like Desians," he said finally.

"We're not," affirmed the mercenary. "We accidentally commandeered this warship when our own ship was wrecked. Feel free to search it if you think it necessary."

The guard nodded and motioned for a couple of his men to board the vessel. Han Duo seemed to be about to protest but was quickly silenced by another smack via Raine's staff. After a couple tense minutes, the guards came back, giving an all clear signal.

"Well then, nothing to be too alarmed about then. Just as long as you're the only one," said the man jokingly. No one laughed. Coughing awkwardly, he regained his official voice. "Welcome to Palmacosta. I'd like to ask you to take that ship away as quickly as possible though. Desians tend to make the locals nervous."

"I'll be heading out as soon as I've resupplied," assured Han Duo.

Raine looked at the ship, and then back at him. "Can you really man that thing by yourself?" she asked skeptically.

"Sure I can. I've sailed much bigger things than her before."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Han Duo snorted. "Ye of little faith. See if I ever give you a ride again."

"Don't do us any favors," the martial artist shot back instantly. "I'd feel safer in a washtub after that ship ride."

Han Duo didn't respond, merely walked back up the gangplank, muttering to himself about uppity kids these days. The head guard gave one final salute before dispersing the other soldiers.

"Huh. Well that went unusually well," said Genis.

"Maybe we'll be able to pass through here without incident," said Lloyd confidently.

"Yeah, and maybe Kratos will actually smile for a change," mumbled Ranma sarcastically.

* * *

 **Palmacosta: Government Building**

"Imposters! Seize them!"

"Hey Lloyd? I think this is the part where I say 'I told you so'."

"Oh shut up."

The Book of Regeneration. A record of the location of the seals needing to be released to refill the world with mana. Kept as a closely guarded artifact by the Governor of Palmacosta, and apparently given to the first rag tag group of adventurers claiming that they had the chosen one who was going on the journey of regeneration.

Behind them, a wall of guards had formed between them and the exit, halberds at the ready. Ranma tensed, getting ready for a fight.

"Colette!" barked Kratos suddenly, startling the smaller girl. "Show them your wings."

"Right." Concentrating for a second, her rainbow pattered wings appeared from her back, bathing the room in light.

Governor-general Dorr looked shocked but quickly called off the guards. "I-I apologize," he stuttered out quickly. "I thought the chosen of mana had already presented herself!"

Raine sighed, clearly annoyed. "And I suppose you took them at face value? Did you even think to ask for proof?"

"I-I let my excitement...get the best of me. I really wanted to believe. I offer my deepest apologies." He bowed towards the chosen.

Ranma rubbed his head tiredly. "Imposters huh? Should be easy enough. Just find the people claiming to be us and beat the crap out of them right?"

"It might not be that easy," said Raine doubtfully. "Apparently they were good enough to fool a Governor, so other people might assume that we are the imposters instead."

"Or it could be that this governor is an idiot," said Genis rudely. "Do you use your eyes at all or are they just there for decoration? You humans are-"

WHAP!

The words were barely out of his mouth before Raine's staff came down upon his head, making a loud sound. "And we are guests in this city. Watch your mouth Genis."

Genis looked angry, but didn't respond. Ranma felt a little uncomfortable. A small undercurrent of racism was flowing throughout the room now.

"I don't suppose you know what was in the book?" asked Lloyd hopefully.

"Angelic script," cut in Kratos before Dorr could answer.

"What did the imposters look like?" asked Ranma, trying a new line of questioning.

The governor thought about it for a second. "Well, the fake Chosen one was wearing a light blue wizards hat and cloak. Another had blue hair and a scholarly look about him, and another had spiky brown hair and lots of armor. The last was wearing green pants and a brown vest."

"Well if they're a group of four traveling together then they'll probably stick out easily enough," said Kratos.

"Assuming that none of them can actually read angelic script," mused Raine, "they'll probably want to sell it. Governor Dorr, what would you say the best place to sell antiques around here would be?"

"Hakonesia Peak," said the aged man instantly. "There's an old antique dealer there named Koton. Collects a lot of random things. He's been trying to get the scripture off of me for ages."

"How long ago were they here?" pressed Kratos.

"Not even an hour ago."

"No rest for the weary then," said Ranma sourly. "Oh well. Great town, at least for the whole ten minutes we were here I guess. Time to go save the world again."

"It'd be easier if everyone wasn't conspiring against us though," shot back Genis as they filed out of the building.

The group walked along quietly for a few seconds, no one speaking until Kratos stopped them in front of an item shop.

"We should take a minute to resupply," he said in way of explanation.

Ranma scratched his head. "Aren't we in kind of a hurry?"

"We are. But we are in no hurry to die from being unprepared."

Ranma sighed but conceded the point. Leaving the rest of the party outside, Ranma, Kratos, and Lloyd entered the item shop.

"Oh please! There's no way anyone would sell those to you at a price that low!"

The martial artist surveyed the scene before him. Two uniformed Desians seemed to be arguing with a brown haired girl in a yellow dress.

"You should be thankful that we're even willing to spend money for goods from a rundown shack like this!" Retorted one of the Desians.

"I don't need to hear that from a bunch of filthy Desians! I'm not going to sell one single gel to the likes of you."

"Chocolat, stop!" An older woman had come to stand behind the counter now, seemingly trying to diffuse the situation.

"But mom, these are the same monsters that took Grandma away!"

The first Desian slammed his hand down on the counter, leaning forward threateningly. "You've got some nerve talking to us like that, little girl! You keep that up, and we can't guarantee what'll happen to you or this city!"

Chocolat smirked. "Just try it! As long as Governor-general Dorr is around, we'll never submit to the likes of you!"

"Why you little-"

"Excuse me!" spoke up Ranma suddenly. "Are you guys going to buy something or what? We're kind of in a hurry."

The argument cut off abruptly as everyone turned to see the arrival of the new customers. The Deisans suddenly recoiled back in surprise.

"It's you!" said one.

"The one who escaped from the ranch!" said the other.

"And the one with the special exsphere!" The Desians began reaching for their weapons.

Ranma facepalmed, somewhat exasperated. "Oh right, I'd almost forgotten about that."

"You want to start something here?" asked Lloyd, resting a hand on one of his swords.

The Desians paused for a minute, as if suddenly realizing that they were outnumbered.

"I think you should leave," said Kratos menacingly.

The Desians hurried to put away their weapons and moved towards the door.

One of them turned around at the last minute to speak to Chocolat. "Depending on Lord Magnius' mood, you might or might not get to keep that pretty little head of yo-HURK!"

"I don't think you heard the big intimidating mercenary," said Ranma, gripping the half-elf by the throat and looking him in the eye. "I think he said something about you leaving." Before the Desian could struggle any further, he suddenly found himself flying out the doorway and onto the street. "Man I hate waiting in line."

Chocolat and her mother, simply stared at them for a bit before regaining their composure. "I-I better get to work," said Chocolat finally.

"Take care." Turning towards Kratos, she bowed slightly. "I apologize for what happened. Please, take a look around."

As Kratos began to bargain for their supplies, Ranma casually threaded his way through the products with Lloyd. "There seems to be a lot of racial tension around here," he said carefully.

"It's the same all around," said Lloyd bluntly. "Hatred between humans and half-elves is mutual, believe me."

"Do you hate half-elves?" asked Ranma curiously.

"The Desians killed my mother," he said simply. "I don't know about half-elves, but Desians..." he trailed off. Ranma didn't press him for an answer.

"We're done here. Let's get moving," said Kratos suddenly.

* * *

 **House of Salvation: Midway Between Palmacosta and Hakonesia Peak**

Traveling to Hakonesia Peak was almost day long journey if started in the early morning. If timed right, one could usually make it to a House of Salvation conveniently placed halfway between the two destinations around noon. Unfortunately, their journey was ill timed, and the Chosen's party had traveled the last hour through the hottest part of the day.

"We stop for now," said Kratos firmly. "Pushing further will only be detrimental to our progress."

Lloyd slumped over and sighed in relief. "Man, I thought the desert in Triet was hot, but this is just as bad."

Ranma didn't say anything, choosing rather to move towards the shade with Colette as the party threaded throughout the House of Salvation. "He's stopping for me isn't he?" asked Colette as she reached down to pet a dog.

"You and Genis," corrected Ranma. "Don't worry though. It'll get easier. Good thing too, we've still got three more seals to break."

Colette sat back on the grass, allowing the dalmatian to lick at her face while she lathered it with attention. "I hope so."

Ranma sensed her depression. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently. "Is it about those imposters?"

"No no, it's just that..." she trailed off for a second. "I know we're stopping because of me and everyone's worried about my health."

"You're not a burden," said Ranma immediately. "You may be klutzy and not as combat oriented as everyone else," Colette's expression fell, "but you're not a burden. Besides, this journey would be so boring without you around to keep our morale up."

Colette didn't respond, but smiled gave the dog one last pat. "This one is definitely a Max."

Ranma sweatdropped. "You just named him?"

"Yep!"

"What if he already has a name?"

"He likes this one better. Don't you Max?" she cooed to the Dog. In response, the dalmatian rolled onto its stomach, begging for pets.

Ranma shook his head. "If you say so. So you're not even a little annoyed by those imposters?"

Colette thought about it for a minute. "Well...I think if we have more Chosen Ones the odds of the world getting saved will go up."

Ranma scratched his head as Colette wandered away. "I don't think it works like that..."

* * *

"Hey Lloyd, what's up?"

The red-dressed swordsman jumped at Ranma's unexpected voice. "Sshhh!" he hushed quietly.

"What are you-" Ranma cut himself off as he saw what Lloyd was spying on. A familiar purple-dressed assassin was standing in front of the alter, praying to the statue of Spiritua. Snatches of her prayer could almost be heard.

"...lla will suffer. Please, help me save everyone."

"I've been watching her for a while now," whispered Lloyd conspiratorially. "Colette wanted me to find out- Ranma?" Lloyd turned around only to see Ranma already walking towards the assassin.

"Hey Sheena, what's up?"

The assassin jumped at the sound of his voice before whirling around to face him. "You're alive!" she exclaimed, recognizing him immediately.

The martial artist raised an eyebrow. "I'm alive? I'm surprised you made it out alive after attacking Kratos like that."

"I had help," she mumbled.

"Oh really? How long did you last?" asked Ranma smugly. "I'll give you a thousand gald if you can honestly tell me that you held your own for longer than five minutes."

Sheena blushed but didn't deny it. "Shut up! We're supposed to be enemies remember?"

"Sure, but it's too hot to fight right now. Besides, this is a church. Fighting here has bad karma written all over it. My name is Ranma by the way."

"I know that already! You're spell-warrior nearly deafened me when she shouted it."

"Spell-warrior?" asked Ranma curiously.

"Your staff wielder," she explained.

"I think she's just a mage," he corrected.

"Bullshit! I've never seen a mage hit that hard with a staff."

"She's a teacher too," offered Ranma in way of explanation.

"Oh."

"...So what are you doing here anyways?"

"I was praying that I'd be able to kill you guys! What does it look like I'm doing?"

"But isn't the goddess your praying to the same one who chose Colette to be the chosen in the first place?"

Sheena looked flustered for a second. "You wouldn't understand!"

"Probably not. I'm kinda new to this world."

Sheena's eyes widened. "You mean-"

"Hey Ranma!" Lloyd's voice cut in over their conversation. "Is she fighting us or what?"

Lloyd's hands went to his swords but was stopped by Ranma's voice. "Hey Lloyd, I don't follow the religion here that well but I'm pretty sure that fighting in a temple is a big no no."

Lloyd paused for a moment and considered what he said. "I guess you're right. My name is Lloyd by the way," he offered in way of greeting.

Sheena, who had just been about to draw her own weapons looked a little off balance. "I-idiot! I never asked you your names."

"But we already know yours so it only seems fair," said Ranma reasonably.

"Oh forget it. I've lost my concentration. You'd better be ready next time." Withdrawing a small sphere from her clothes, Sheena threw it on the ground and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Cough, cough. Oh man that stuff smells bad," said Ranma, waving the air in front of his face. "How do ninjas put up with that crap?"

* * *

 **Hakonesia Peak**

It didn't take long to locate Koton's store. After all, it was the only house in the vicinity. Unfortunately, that was the easy part. The hard part was Koton himself.

"If you're looking for road passes to get through Hakonesia peak, it's 100,000,000 gald per person!"

"The hell? What kind of price is that? That's robbery!" Protested Lloyd.

"Shut up boy! I'll have you know that I hate men."

"And I hate old geezers like you," said Ranma sourly. "Fortunately, we're not trying to get through just yet."

"There it is," said Raine, pointing out an old looking book. "Just like Dorr said."

"Well at least he was good for something," mumbled Genis.

"Oh, my beautiful maiden! You have a good eye!" The old man immediately turned away from Ranma to talk to Raine. "This here is something I purchased from the Chosen of Mana. It's a very rare scripture record that contains the Legend of Spiritua! I've been wanting to get my hands on this for ages! I'd just about given up on Dorr ever letting go of it. It was very fortunate that the Chosen herself was willing to part with it!"

"God damn imposters," mumbled Lloyd. "Do they not want the world to be regenerated or something?"

"Would it be okay if we looked at it?" asked Colette innocently.

"You've got to be kidding me! Why should I show it to you people?"

THUNK!

"Because we're trying to save the world," said Ranma as he caught the old man's limp body. Everyone stared at him in shock. "What?"

"That wasn't very professional Ranma," said Raine condescendingly.

"Don't worry, he won't remember a thing. I used to do this to my dad all the time to make him forget his stupid plans," he assured them.

Kratos sighed. "Whatever. Let's just look at it while we have the chance."

Colette approached the book, and began reading. "Raging flames in an ancient city deep within clouds of sand overlook the city, lighting the darkness. Pure, flowing water floating, overflowing, in an isolated land becomes a giant pillar and rains down from the sky. Sublime wind, ancient city, the world's… Enshrined in the center of a giant stone seal lurks evil, impersonating a holy force. Shining…gazing up at the summit of the gods, giving praise to the pillar of the world…from the top of the tower of ancient gods. Two giant… …The rest is too damaged. I can't read it…"

"Well," said Raine, "since we've already released the seal of fire, we can assume that the city deep within clouds of sand refers to the Triet ruins. Assuming that Martel wrote the seals in the order in which she originally released them, then it follows that the water seal would be next."

"Pure, flowing water floating, overflowing in an isolated land becomes a giant pillar and rains down from the sky," repeated Genis to himself. "An isolated land probably refers to an island of some kind. A giant pillar of water is most likely referring to a geyser. So that means-"

"Thoda Geyser," said Ranma and Lloyd in unison.

Genis blinked. "How did you guys know that?"

Raine sighed. "Geography. It was the only lesson they were able to stay awake for while I was teaching," she explained.

"You can't win every battle," said Kratos wisely. "But at least we have a destination now."

"Make sure to copy down what you've read," said Raine to Colette, handing her a piece of paper. "I don't think it'll be good for his health if we knock him unconscious every time we want to read that book."

"I'm telling you it's going to be fine," assured Ranma. "I've done this lots of times."

"That's not exactly encouraging," said Genis.

After transcribing the book, the party left the house, only to be stalled by a crowd of people mingling in front of the shop. "What's wrong?" asked Lloyd to the crowd of people.

One of the women turned to the swordsman, seemingly both excited and horrified to share her gossip. "Oh you don't know?"

"It'd be better if you just stayed here for a while. Avoid Palmacosta at all costs," he cautioned.

"Did something happen?" asked Colette worriedly.

"It seems the Desians are headed for Palmacosta," said another woman. "Plus they say that their leader Magnius is with them."

Ranma tuned out the rest of the crowd as he talked with the other party members. "I thought that the Desians had reached their 'death quota' this year. What's up with the invasion?"

"Magnius has always been a lose cannon," explained Kratos. "Someone human probably slighted him or something."

"You know the guy?" asked Ranma curiously.

"I know of him," he corrected. "Of the Desian ranch leaders, he's probably the closest to insanity."

"We have to go help them," said Lloyd suddenly.

"That wouldn't be recommended," cautioned Raine. "Our goal is to regenerate the world. We don't have time to worry about every single town along the way."

"What good is saving the world if we can't even save the people in front of us?" shouted Lloyd. "They don't have a non-aggression treaty like Iselia. If we just stand by and let this happen, there won't be anything left to regenerate!"

Raine seemed at a loss for words. Colette, on the other hand, was immediately fired up. "Lloyd's right! I won't just stand here and let this happen."

Ranma however, groaned. "Ugh. I guess this means we get to travel all the way back there then."

"It's good training," said Kratos unsympathetically. "We'll have to hurry though. Raine, you ride with Noishe. Lloyd, you carry Genis. Ranma, you carry Colette. If you keep pace with me then we'll make it in time."

"Why don't you have to carry anyone?" asked Ranma skeptically.

"Because I've already completed my training," said Kratos simply. "Enough complaining."

"Ooh a piggyback ride," said Colette excitedly. "I haven't done this in a while."

Ranma couldn't help but groan again as he felt Colette's weight add on to the weight he was already carrying. "These people better be grateful for this," he mumbled quietly.

* * *

A/N: Oh man I am so out of practice with this fanfic. I hope you still enjoyed it though. I know the impostors haven't played a big role just yet, but we'll be seeing more of them in the future. Show of hands though, how many people just wanted to deck Koton by the end of the game?


	48. Ranma & Land of Symphonia: Sidestory 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Tales of Symphonia. Hah! I bet you weren't expecting a normal disclaimer, ooohhhhh BURN!

Ranma- You're weird. You realize that don't you?

ClanCrusher- And proud of it.

Ranma and the Land of Symphonia 

**Sidestory- A Divine Sleep**

Ranma was dreaming, somehow he knew it was a dream but he couldn't figure out how he knew. He was standing in a sparsely furnished office with two chairs and a desk. On the desk there was an apple, a cup with a few pens in it and a photo. Looking further Ranma realized that he was not the only person in the room.

Seated behind the desk was an elderly man with white hair and beard. He had every appearance of a knowledgeable elder figure.

Before Ranma could ask him anything the man spoke, "Please Ranma, have a seat."

Wondering how the person could possibly know his name Ranma did the only thing he could. He sat down.

"I know you have a lot of questions right now and maybe I'll answer them after I'm done, but for now just bare with me.

"Alright." Said Ranma a bit confused.

"As you have already guessed, at the training ground Jusenkyo you were taken from your world and transported to a world called Symphonia."

"Yeah I gathered that much." Agreed Ranma.

"Ah, but this is what you do not know. The land of Symphonia was created from a game."

This brought Ranma up short, "A…a...a game!"

"Indeed, you had been transported to a game called Tales of Symphonia."

"You mean to tell me the whole time I've been playing IN a video game?" shouted Ranma standing up from his seat.

"Ahh, now that is where you're wrong."

Ranma sat back down in his chair with a soft thump, "So what do you mean?"

"Hmm, well I think it's best if I started from the beginning."

"Please do."

"There are two planes of existence besides the earth realm, more commonly known as Midgard. In one place, where the demons reside, is known to mortals as Hell or Nefilim (sp?). Mortals know the other place where Angles and deities reside as Heaven.

Ranma nodded his head in understanding.

"Heaven has a computer system here that oversees the mortal realm that is run by various personnel. However, every so often, the system gets bugs in it that need to be eliminated by people called de-buggers. Their job is to travel to Midgard and destroy the physical manifestation of the bug or bugs, thereby fixing the system."

Ranma wasn't exactly following this but he got the gist of it and motioned for the man to continue.

"The place where you and Genma went is the source of a major infestation of bugs and has generally been given up as a lost cause. When you came, you put the alert level of an infestation way past the red zone and an entire squad of de-buggers was sent there to destroy them. Among them, my daughter Skuld.

"What's so important about her?" he asked.

"She was the one who made the portal you fell through," he explained, "Ironically enough, you fell into the nexus spring while the portal was open and you were transferred to the game of Tales of Symphonia."

"Well okay, so can you bring me ba-"

The old man cut him off, "I'm not finished yet. Due to your chaotic aura that you got when you came to Jusenkyo, combined slightly with divine influence, you have transformed Symphonia from a mere game to an entirely different world."

Ranma knew his jaw was on the ground but didn't bother to make the effort to close his mouth. If what the old man was saying was true, he had accidentally created a real world! Without even trying!

"Shocking isn't it?" said the man with a slight tone of amusement, "There is no telling how this will have affected other worlds or dimensions ever since Symphonia was transformed into a real place. The world has its own history which could have affected any other time lines,"

Ranma finally recovered from his shock, "Well then, cant you bring me back to my home-world?"

Sighing, the man responded, "I am sorry but I'm afraid I don't know enough about the new world to pinpoint its location and transport you back. If attempted, you could end up anywhere from Pluto to a black hole."

"Then how are you able to talk to me like this?"

"I am merely contacting you on a subconscious level, which is a different matter entirely. Since it was my subordinate who put you in this world I thought you would like an explanation."

Slightly depressed Ranma slumped back in his chair. The old man saw his depression and quickly spoke up, "However, another one of my daughters has recently played the game. I believe if you can come into contact with the spirits known as Origin and Maxwell in that world, I think we could work something out."

Ranma brightened considerably at this, "Alright then, I'll look for them."

"Indeed," they were interrupted by a loud beeping noise coming from the man's left wrist. The man pushed a button on his watch and smiled at Ranma.

"And now I believe it is time for you to wake up."

"Wait a sec, I never got you name!"

"Well, some people like to refer to me as Kami-sama."

SPLASH!

Back in the land of Symphonia Ranma was awoken by Kratos with an ice-cold pail of the chemical formula known as H20.

Back in Kami-sama's office:

'Oh yes Ranma, you'll find that the effect you caused had a very 'interesting' effect on your timeline alright' thought the man to himself, 'Now, where was I?

Kami-sama waved his hand, causing a cabinet to open. Inside was a TV and Game Cube with the game "Tales of Symphonia" in it.

A/N: Just a quick side story to kill my writers block. Please tell me what you think. Sorry for the long waits for updates and all, you can blame school for that. Finally, if Mdizzle is reading this, PLEASE UPDATE YOUR RANMA STORIES! That's all.

And finally, the results for the pairing polls:

Sheena:6

Raine: 3

Colette:1

That Other Girl:1


	49. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 1

Author's Forward: I know many of you are going say I'm full of crap about this, but believe or not, my idea at the time for Smash Brother Ranma wasn't too far off from what actually happened in Subspace Emissary just a year later after I actually published it.

The premise was actually pretty straightforward. Ranma gets pulled into the Smash Universe where a bunch of fighters congregate and compete in a tournament, but an evil entity threatens this and sends something akin to the executioners (from Star Ocean 3) to wipe out Master Hand's pocket reality because of the cross-dimensional crap he keeps doing. Ranma makes friends and allies, fights to defend his new home, and probably hooks up with Samus. If I were a better writer back then and not so easily distracted by shiny things, I might have been able to make this one work.

* * *

Disclaimer- I don't own Ranma one half, I don't own Nintendo, I don't own that stupid announcers voice that starts the beginning of each and every match of Super Smash Brothers, I don't own the master hand, I don't own any characters that belong to that game. I could go on all day.

* * *

 **Chapter 1- Ready…**

Ranma sighed to himself as he woke up early for the third time that week. He had been staying at the Tendo's Dojo for three years now, and his father's constant morning fights had trained him to wake up at the god forsaken early hours of the morning.

Feigning sleep, Ranma watched through slightly closed eyes as his pop sneaked towards his bed, an evil grin on his face. Slowly, Genma reached down and grabbed his son's muscle shirt.

"WAKE UP BOY!" Shouted Genma suddenly.

Ranma's eyes snapped open suddenly, "ALRIGHT POPS!"

Genma didn't even have time to be surprised from the shout as he found his grip broken and himself flying out the window. Laughing softly to himself, Ranma jumped out the window to join his pop for the morning spar.

'It's the small things in life…' he thought to himself as he faced his father across the koi pond.

Nabiki sighed as she heard Ranma's shout reverberate through the whole house. Time to begin another day. She didn't used to be a morning person but Ranma's entrance into her life left little choice in the matter.

* * *

"You know, there was a time when Nerima was actually interesting…" mumbled Ranma to himself as he saw Kuno charging towards him, bokken raised above his head.

Stepping to the side at the last minute, Ranma let the wooden sword pass him with an inch to spare. Letting Kuno overextend himself, Ranma drove his elbow into his back as he passed. Using Kuno's moment of recovery to his advantage, Ranma round-housed the Blue Thunder in the back of the head, dropping him instantly.

"Come on Ranma! We're going to be late for school!" shouted Akane, running past him into the building.

"Darn, and here I was hoping to sleep inside the classroom instead of outside in the hall," grumbled Ranma, but nevertheless followed Akane inside.

* * *

Miss Hinako was boring, the lecture was boring, he didn't understand the foreign language, and someone who fell asleep at midnight and woke up at dawn was pretty damn tired during the afternoon, which explained why Ranma was currently asleep on his desk.

Hinako smiled to herself as she withdrew a 500 yen piece from her desk. While she thrived on ki and wasn't particular to any type, Ranma's ki was different, it felt better to her than others, and she took every opportunity to "educate" Ranma about sleeping in class.

Ranma grimaced to himself as he _felt_ Hinako moving towards him. Call it the martial artist's sixth sense if you will.

 _Damn and I was almost asleep too._ He thought bitterly.

"Happo 500 yen…"

Faster than the eye could see Ranma got up from his desk and jumped out of the way from the attack. Poor Daiskue who didn't get out of the way in time was immediately drained.

Hinako, in her adult form, blinked at the disappearance of her target.

"Looking for me?"

The English teacher whirled around only to get the yen piece knocked out of her hand. Before she could say anything she felt Ranma's fingers on her right breast and lower back, the pressure points that would temporarily seal off her technique.

Ranma left her standing there for a few seconds before returning to his seat, putting his head down and falling asleep. Although even a non-martial artist could sense it, Ranma paid no attention to Akane's angry battle aura.

* * *

There was only one thing Ranma was grateful for about school, and that was the lunch break in between the monotonous classes. Sitting outside underneath his favorite tree, the pigtailed martial artist watched the going on's of his fellow classmates.

Kuno had just gotten thrown into the cement wall for professing his love for Akane and Nabiki was pointing at him while talking to some of her "subordinates." Ranma groaned for what seemed like the tenth time that day, whenever Nabiki took interest in him it was never good.

Swallowing the last of his sandwich, Ranma jumped onto one of the tree's branches and spring boarded up to the third floor where his classroom was, leaving Nabiki scowling at him from the ground floor.

Unfortunately she was able to corner him after school had let out.

"Hey Ranma, I have a deal…"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. I don't want to hear it and I'm not interested."

Nabiki was a bit taken aback at being so casually rebuffed but she quickly recovered, "Saotome, need I remind you of…"

"No you really don't need to remind me. You've "reminded" me of that crap since the first day I got here, and I don't need to hear it again."

"Well then, I hardly need to explain it then. Care to reconsider?"

"No I really don't care. I don't want any part of it," seeing her start to frown Ranma added, "And this discussion is over. I'll see you at the dojo."

With that Ranma jumped out the window in his classroom, landing gracefully on the ground.

Nabiki was furious, no one ever refused her offers, or they would get what was coming to them. Taking out her cell-phone, Nabiki dialed a few numbers.

* * *

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!"

Without even looking behind him Ranma caught the titanium umbrella by the handle, grunting slightly as the weight seemed to push him into the ground.

"Ryoga, seriously man, can't you come up with a new line or something?"

Taken off guard Ryoga paused in mid attack as if considering something, "I dunno, what should I say?"

"Try something cooler, like "Defend Yourself" or "Prepare to Fight." Prepare to die is so generic and overused its rusting."

Ryoga sat down and thought about it for a second, "You know what? You're right, I think I need a new line."

"Happy to help," with a friendly wave Ranma walked off towards the dojo.

Ryoga was nodding appreciatively when he suddenly remembered something, "Hey wait a second! We still have to fight…aw crap now where am I?"

Hearing a low rumble of thunder Ryoga automatically reached behind himself to get his umbrella…

"Huh? Where is it?"

…only to find out that Ranma had walked off with it. His cursing and death threats soon gave way to the squealing of a small pig.

* * *

Just before the rain hit, Ranma unfurled Ryoga's umbrella, shielding him from the water. The freak rainstorms that happened around Nerima were so common it was getting easier to predict them.

Standing outside of the dojo for a few seconds, Ranma braced himself for the storm to hit when he entered, "There always has to be drama," he said to himself. Unfortunately he didn't even get to enter the dojo before Akane came storming out.

"RANMA! What are you doing with Ryoga's umbrella? You were picking on him again weren't you?"

 _Alright, here's my ticket out of this_ thought Ranma suddenly, "Yes Akane, I was picking on Ryoga again, then on the way home I flirted with Shampoo and asked Ukyo on a date. Finally I kicked P-Chan into the sky on my way home. Happy?"

Ranma almost laughed in spite of himself. He probably could have performed the Hiryu Shoten Ha right now without even having to walk in a spiral.

"RANMA YOU BASTARD!" With a scream of fury Akane launched the martial artist into orbit.

* * *

"Something tells me that this wasn't supposed to happen," said Ranma to the blackness he now faced. When Akane had hit him, he had gone straight past LEO into UEO. The only problem with that was that he hadn't come back down. Instead he was standing on some sort of glowing platform, still holding Ryoga's umbrella.

Then suddenly, as if someone was lifting off a veil around him, the darkness faded into a much larger flat platform seemingly suspended in space. It was then he realized that he wasn't alone.

Across from him stood something akin to a robot, armor decorated with varying shades of orange and red. A green visor placed across the section where the face would have been made it impossible to tell if it was human or not.

"Um…excuse me but I think I accidentally…"

"READY…"

Ranma nearly jumped at the voice that came from nowhere, "Who said that?"

…FIGHT!"

"Fight? But I was just…" His words were cut off as he saw the robot like thing in front of him charge forward.

* * *

This is a re-write of the prologue. I went through and re-read this story and I found a lot of inconsistencies that I want to fix before they get out of hand. The re-write will probably take some time before it catches up the original.

Update 5/6/10: Fixed a few spelling errors and sentence problems.


	50. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 2

A/N: This is the re-written version of chapter 2. I realized a little while ago that the whole chapter was a grand total of four pages, so I lengthened it a bit, factored Ryoga's umbrella into the fight and introduced an antagonist into the story where there was no "villain role" previously.

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 **Chapter 2- Man vs. Machine?**

It was only due to the last 3 years of the Neriman brand hell he went through that saved him from a pounding by the armored figure. Sidestepping the charge Ranma jumped away to get some distance.

"Hey come on now, I don't even know where I am," protested Ranma, continuing to stay out of reach of the attacker, "I don't even know you!"

Silence was the only response he got. Jumping back a few more feet Ranma watched as the figure extended its right arm. Where a hand and fingers should have been there was an empty tube.

Ranma's fascination quickly died down as the tube released a missile headed straight towards his face.

"Woah!" Dropping to all fours, Ranma let the missile pass above him and quickly jumped away from the ground to avoid a second.

"Alright, I don't know who you are, but if you want a fight you got it!"

The machine-like enemy paused for a second before slowly extending its good hand in a "come on" gesture.

"Gladly!" shouted Ranma before darting forward, Ryoga's umbrella extending in front of him. Right before Ryoga's umbrella would have made contact with the enemy; Ranma darted to the right and attacked the person's left side instead.

Falling for the fake out, Ranma got a clean shot on the enemies' side, knocking it back a few feet. Not letting up on his attack the martial artist charged forward again, hoping to keep up the pressure. This time the machine wasn't fooled though.

Right before his attack, the machine rolled into a small ball and rolled right between Ranma's legs, avoiding his attack completely. Turning around to face his opponent, Ranma didn't notice the flashing red ball that the thing had left behind.

BOOM!

Until it blew up right between his legs. Wincing in pain, Ranma was completely open for the next attack and took the machine's gun-arm right in the stomach. Flying into the air, Ranma unfurled Ryoga's umbrella to ward off another barrage of missiles that followed his assent. Lacing just the right amount of ki into the weapon, Ranma chucked it at his foe, putting the right spin on it so that it would return back to him.

His foe merely took a small step to the right and avoided it completely, much like he had done the first time that technique was used on him. Landing on the ground, Ranma opened his hand and caught the umbrella as it came back to him.

"Nice moves," he said to the machine type thing standing across from him, "But let me show you mine!"

This time the machine met him partway in their melee. Tossing the umbrella on the ground Ranma caught the machines forward punch and did a tai chi toss onto the ground, only to be amazed as the thing seemed to recover in midair and land on its feet.

"What the hell?"

His stall almost cost him as another missile grazed his shoulder. Mentally cursing himself for his hesitation, Ranma rolled back and grabbed the umbrella, expecting some more missiles to come at him.

However, the robot like enemy had retreated and was now charging up a big blue ball of energy from its gun arm.

"Okay, now that looks bad."

Rushing forward Ranma moved at a slight angle so as not to present an easy target. The machine didn't seem overly concerned with it though, rotating to keep him in its field of vision. Just as he was about to close the distance for an assault, the machine abruptly stopped charging and rolled out of the way.

"What the…why'd you stop charging?" asked Ranma. After gathering that much energy, he would have at least expected the thing to release it at him.

In response the thing merely motioned towards its gun, which was now glowing a bright white. A second too late, Ranma realized what that meant.

 **BOOOM!!**

Fortunately, he had the sense of mind to at least partially dodge it, so the blue energy blast didn't hit him head on. On the other hand…

"God damnit that hurt," Said Ranma, picking himself up off the ground. His pants had been singed and his shirt was falling away into ashes. He wasn't sure if the person standing in front of him was human or not, seeing as how his ki scan was only registering bits and traces of energy, but he could swear that the thing was smirking.

"Oh so that's how you want to play then?" asked Ranma, starting to smirk, "Well I have one too. Moko Takabisha!"

The blast hit the thing head on, sending it up in the air. Once again though, Ranma saw the thing seem to use empty space as a platform to recover in midair. Rolling into a ball, the machine started dropping bombs in midair, forcing Ranma to retreat again.

As soon as the machine landed, Ranma shot forward like a bullet, hoping to start an attack before the thing could get its land legs back throwing away the cumbersome umbrella as he did so. He wasn't disappointed either, as the thing barely had time to shoot off a missile before Ranma was engaging it at close range.

Just as Ranma had expected, the machines melee skills were not on par with its ranged skills. While it was a decent hand to hand fighter, it was easy to tell Ranma had the upper hand. Grabbing the gun arm, Ranma pointed it away from his body and unloaded a single handed chestnut fist into the things upper body, finishing up the combo with an uppercut that sent the machine flying off the stage…

…or so he thought. Once again, to Ranma's expectations, the thing performed a midair recovery jump, but it was too far away to get back on to the stage. Then, once again to Ranma's amazement, the thing brought its knees to its chest and started glowing white, and then suddenly the thing launched into a second midair jump, spinning rapidly, gaining just enough distance to get back onto the stage.

"Well that was pretty damn convenient," said Ranma, starting to get a little annoyed. How many techniques did this thing have? He didn't have time to think though, the thing was charging up another one of those blue energy blasts.

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Marth wiped the sweat off his forehead and pressed the towel to his face. He had just finished his three stock match with Mewtwo, ending up in a humiliating loss for him with a 0-2 finish. While it was better than the time when Mewtwo had skunked him, it was still embarrassing.

Taking his limiters off, Marth shouldered his towel and walked out towards the lobby. As he walked out of the lobby he glanced over to the match viewing TV screen where several people were watching the final match of the evening take place. He was just about to leave the lobby when Roy called over to him.

"Hey Marth, you might want to watch this, some new kid is taking on Samus!"

"New kid? Do we have an ID on him yet?"

"Nope. Master Hand hasn't announced anything either so we're all wondering who he is."

Curious, Marth walked over to the TV screen just in time to see a black haired boy do a wild midair twist to dodge Samus' missiles, returning fire with his on energy blast, which Samus also dodged.

"What are the match rules?"

"One stock no time limit since it's a new fighter. He's holding his own pretty well considering he doesn't even have a double jump. Samus hasn't even knocked him off the stage yet," responded Link who was sitting on the couch, "I wonder if Master Hand planned this."

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Master Hand smirked to himself as he hacked into the Ygdrassil database to retrieve Ranma's folder. It felt good to defy the gods, especially since they were constantly complaining about his disregard for the laws of the universe.

"Screw em," he said to himself as his fingers flew over the keyboard. How else was he supposed to run a fighting arena for the best if he didn't have the best? Bringing up Ranma's file, Master Hand started to read.

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Ranma grumbled to himself as the thing retreated and started firing missiles again. Apparently the thing had gotten enough of his melee skills and was trying to play it safe. He couldn't afford to wear himself down by repeatedly throwing ki blasts at it and it could just retreat again if he tried to engage in melee. To top it all off, the whole arena was flat so there were no obstacles to hide behind either.

BAM!

And judging by the sheer amount of missiles the thing had already fired, it wasn't going to run out anytime soon. He needed a new strategy.

Then, as the thing was charging up another energy blast an idea hit him. Focusing as hard as he could, Ranma charged up his own energy blast, but before he released it, he forced the energy back inside of him. The feeling made him feel like his veins were on fire.

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Samus paused for a second as her opponent fell to his knees in pain. A blue like energy pulsated out from his body briefly before it died down to a faint glow. Slowly, the boy stood up to full height, as if the effort took everything he had. Finally the boy got into a fighting stance and opened his eyes, now glowing a brilliant golden color.

Samus didn't waste any time in firing another barrage of missiles, some tracking and some power. The golden eyed kid waited until they were almost upon him before dodging at a speed that belied his previous pace.

She didn't even had time to fire another missile before he was right next to her, his glowing hand reaching for her. In desperation, she pointed her gun right into the boy's chest as he did the same to her.

"LION'S ROAR!"

She didn't need to say anything for her blast, it spoke for itself.

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Marth shielded his eyes as a white light suddenly illuminated the screen, blinding everyone in the lobby.

"Who won?" asked Link, watching the fading screen intently.

No one spoke for a few seconds, and then the loud announcer voice shouted, "GAME!"

Finally the screen cleared and Marth saw Ranma, hanging on to the edge at 98 damage. Samus was nowhere to be seen.

"Someone get to the locker room, that kids gonna need help standing up after that shot," said Roy suddenly, snapping everyone out of their stupor.

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Ranma groaned as he pulled himself back up onto the platform. Per the usual with new techniques, he was almost completely drained of energy. It was a good thing that the final blast he fired sent that machine type thingy into the stratosphere.

Limping over to where he had thrown the umbrella, Ranma picked it up, using it as sort of an unsteady crutch.

"Now what?" he asked to his surroundings. As far as he could tell, there wasn't any way out except for jumping off into the dark abyss and he wasn't in any hurry to go there seeing as how he sent the machine type thing down there.

 **Greetings Ranma!**

Ranma nearly jumped as the voice came out of nowhere, "What the…where are you?"

 **I am not actually in "that" place right now. You're in a pocket dimension fighting arena.**

"Oookay, so how do I get out of here?"

 **Normally after the match is over you'd automatically be transported out, but since we don't have ki sample from you for our transporter, we're going to have to do it manually. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

"So what do I do then?"

 **Just step on that white circle over there.**

"Sounds easy enough."

 **Don't worry; someone will catch you on the other side.**

"Huh? What the heck do you mean by tha…?"

Ranma didn't get an answer as white light enveloped him and his body started to disappear. His awareness of the arena faded, being replaced by a completely new environment and voices started filling in the deafening silence.

"Careful now, he's coming through."

"Don't open it until the light shows green, these transports take time."

Ranma slowly opened his eyes only to find himself staring into darkness, "Hello?" He called out uncertainly.

"He's up! Open it!"

 **Pssssssht**.

There was a sound of hissing steam and the sound of metal moving. Finally, the pod cracked open allowing light to leak in, illuminating a room with a few people in it.

"Are you doing okay?" asked a guy in a green tunic when the pod opened fully.

"I…think so…" Ranma responded uncertainly. Hesitantly he tried taking a step forward, only to stumble straight into the guy with the green tunic who caught him easily. Ryoga's umbrella tumbled unceremoniously out of his hand and on to the ground, making a spider like crack in the floor.

"Someone grab his stuff," the green tunic man ordered, "And someone help me get him to a room." Carefully, the green tunic man put his arm around his shoulder. He felt someone grab his other arm and turned to see none other than the machine he had just fought earlier supporting his other side.

"What the…" said Ranma, about to wrench his arm out of the machines grip. He didn't have the strength to break that machines hold though.

"Something wrong?" asked the man as he noticed Ranma staring at the armored suit.

"Wasn't I just…you know…fighting that thing a second ago?"

"Well yeah, it was a pretty good fight too."

"You mean it's not trying to kill me?"

"Um…no. Why would she?"

"Well I dunno, I just thought…wait a sec…she?!"

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Master Hand sighed and saved the file to his computer. It wasn't the worst he had seen but it was still pretty bad.

A slight buzzing sound in the back of his head alerted him to an unwanted presence even before he appeared. Groaning, Master Hand spun the computer screen around so that the monitor was facing away from him just as Jodah; lead technician of Ygdrassil came through the screen.

"You really think this is funny don't you?" asked Jodah as soon as he fully materialized. He had long black hair and brown eyes, standing a good six feet off the ground, a small circular mirror in his hand. He was cloaked in the common white apparel of the gods but the look on his face right now would have befit a first class demon.

"Actually I think it was quite amusing, it's not every day that you get to see Ranma come up with a new technique like that in the middle of battle."

Jodah slammed his fist on the desk, bringing his face an inch away from Master Hand's black visage, "You don't get it do you? Do you think these other dimensions just fade into the background when they loose important people like Ranma?"

Master Hand didn't respond but Jodah didn't seem to be expecting one, "The answer is they don't. If we're lucky, they get thrown into chaos, becoming dens for the shadows of evil with none to oppose them, causing a serious imbalance in worlds. And guess who has to clean up the mess?"

Master Hand sighed and didn't say anything. He had had several versions of this same conversation with Jodah before and found that he left quicker if he didn't argue with him. It wasn't as if he was going to listen to him anyways.

Snarling at his unresponsiveness, Jodah reached a hand into the mirror, causing it to ripple like water at his touch. When he withdrew his hand, it now firmly clutched a silver colored CD.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked mockingly, catching the light with the CD and playing around with it.

"It's a CD," responded Master Hand simply, "Used to hold data, files, music, and other such things."

Jodah smirked, "Usually true, but in this case no. This CD holds the executioner program. All it would take is a few clicks of a mouse and your little pocket dimension would be nothing but a memory."

Okay now that was new. However, Master Hand still had once ace up his sleeve, "And of course, you being such a diligent hard working god, have Kami Sama's permission to do this of course."

Master Hand smiled to himself as he saw Jodah mentally deflate and replace the CD within the mirror, "Every time you break into a new dimension for your little arena makes my boss a little less merciful to your cause. You would do well to remember that." With that Jodah dived back through the monitor and was gone from the office.

"What a depressing guy, eh?" he said seemingly to himself.

 _He seemed rather serious this time,_ Responded a voice in Master Hands head.

"Kami Sama isn't going to order the destruction of a dimension with so many leading characters in it. Not only does it go against everything he stands for but it also would create more problems that it would solve."

 _True, but if there's one thing I know about Jodah, its that he can't really see the bigger picture beyond what is placed in front of his desk._ _We might have to consider the fact that he could go rogue at any time..._

"Trust me brother, I'm always considering."

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"You mean to tell me that I got the living crap beaten out of me by a _girl_?" asked Ranma.

Ranma felt a sharp, almost painful, tug on his supported right arm. Turning he stared into the girls green visor which stared back as if to say "You've got a problem with that?"

Wisely, he decided to shut up.

"Man this thing has some nice weight to it," said a voice behind him. Turning he saw a blue haired man with a sheathed sword and a cape picking up his, or rather Ryoga's, umbrella. Experimentally, he swung the umbrella as he would a sword, getting a feel for the weight.

"Too heavy for me to use though," he said shouldering it, "You carry this thing around all the time?"

"Not really, I stole it from a guy I knew right before I came here."

Marth shrugged and started leading the way out of the locker room, Ranma and his two supporters bringing up the rear.

"By the way, who are you guys?" asked Ranma suddenly realizing he had no idea who they were.

"I'm Link from the land of Hyrule," responded the man on his left, "That's Samus; I'm not sure where she's from actually."

"She uh…doesn't talk much does she?"

Link was about to answer when the door in front of him opened up and a burst of applause and cheering suddenly filled the previous vacuum of silence.

While Ranma had had his share of the supernatural and unreal, it still took his mind some time to process the twenty odd humans…or rather creatures…that now stood in front of him. Most of them were human but scattered among them were animals and demi-humans with animal characteristics.

"That was awesome!"

"What the heck was that blue thing? I though Mewtwo was the only one who could…"

"Where did you come from?"

"What's your name?"

"Are you single?"

Ranma jerked his head up at that last comment but the person who said it didn't step forward. People continued pelting him with questions until Marth finally stepped in front of him, "Alright that's enough, you'll have plenty of time to pester him later. He needs rest right now."

The chattering died off and the crowd dispersed, allowing Samus and Link to lead Ranma through the lobby and to the door on the other side.

"Where the heck am I anyways?" asked Ranma as the door opened up into a long hallway.

"You're at the Super Smash Brothers Headquarters, made for the best fighters in the galaxy to participate in friendly fighting competition," responded Link, "And of course to fight in the occasional tournament with incredible prizes."

Ranma merely nodded, the fatigue of his earlier ordeals catching up with him. He was now being half drug by his supporters down several long hallways that he could barely keep track of.

There was silence for a few more minutes before Marth finally stopped at a door with a computer screen on it. Typing in a few numbers, the blue haired swordsman pulled up a new menu with some names on it.

"It looks like he's bunking with you Link, there's a message from Master Hand telling him to get some rest and come see him first thing in the morning."

"Who's Master Hand?" asked Ranma tiredly.

"The arena master," Marth said simply, "Link, throw me your card."

Link reached into his pocket, withdrew a card and tossed it to Marth who inserted it into a slot, "And here's your home for the evening."

The room was built simply but comfortably. There were two beds on opposite sides of the room and a small door, probably leading to a walk in closet, on the side. A single lamp on an ornately carved wooden dresser between the two beds filled the room with light and a single window opened up onto a cloudy sky.

Ranma didn't need much more of an invitation than that and promptly flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.

"Well, that didn't take long," said Link after a brief silence. Quietly Link and Marth left the room. Samus paused at the doorway, looking back at the prone martial artist before giving him a small salute and leaving the room.

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	51. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 3

A/N: A complete rewrite of chapter three. Once again I realized that the chapter was a grand total of about four pages, not to mention a bit redundant seeing as how I was explaining everything in the third chapter again. I also added a bit of back-story to the whole arena.

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 **Chapter 3- The Next Morning**

Waking up a person like Ranma is an art in and of itself. If you try to wake him up too gently, you're likely to not get a reaction at all. If you try to attack him, he'll likely just dodge all of your attacks and kick your butt, while still staying asleep. For the longest time, people have tried using water to wake him up but this would usually lead to a very brutal fight with a very temperamental Ranma, or in a girl's case, a very loud and heated argument.

However, none of these methods was quite as effective as the one Link tried on Ranma's first morning at Super Smash Bros. HQ.

"Hey Ranma you up? I have some breakfast for you."

 _ **ZHOOM!**_

Link barely had time to blink before a black and red blur passed by him slightly under the speed of sound. When he opened his eyes, Ranma was sitting on his bed already devouring the tray with superhuman levels of speed.

"Maks Mink," said Ranma through a mouthful of food.

"No problem."

Ten seconds later Ranma had finished the food and set the tray on the dresser between their beds, "So are you a fighter here too?"

"Yep, I and about twenty others make up the whole Smash team."

"Only twenty?"

"Well, Master Hand is pretty picky about who comes to the arena. He only chooses people who show great potential or have great potential. And," Link lowered his voice until it was just above a whisper, "I hear its been pretty hard for him to get fighters lately because he stepped on the toes of some higher ups if you know what I mean."

Truthfully Ranma had no idea what Link was talking about but he decided not to inquire.

"So what happens now?" asked Ranma after a brief moment of silence, "I mean the foods good but I'm kinda lost on what's going to happen now."

"Oh yeah," said Link suddenly, "I'm supposed to take you to meet Master Hand."

"The arena master? Why does he want to meet me?"

"Probably to draw up a contract with you," said Link shrugging his shoulders, "Can't say for sure though. All the contracts are different but everyone who's been to his office came out completely satisfied."

"What did you get out of your contract?"

"A safe haven."

"Huh?"

Link sighed, put his hands behind his head and lay down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, "About two years ago my homeland fell under a curse by a man known as Ganondorf. Previously I had trapped him the divine realms using the power of this artifact called the TriForce. Unfortunately, Ganondorf wasn't killed, merely contained. Over time he weakened the barriers surrounding his prison due to the part of the Triforce he still possessed."

"Woah, back up. What the heck is the TriForce?"

In response Link held up his right hand. On it was a glowing image of a gold triangle made up of three smaller triangles. Of the three triangles, one part was shining brighter than the other two.

"These three triangles represent each piece of the TriForce. Wisdom, power, and courage. When Ganondorf first tried to steal it, it split into three pieces. He inherited the power side, I got the courage piece, and my X got the wisdom piece."

"Your X?"

"A different, longer, and more boring story not related to this."

"Oh, sorry," said Ranma apologetically.

Link waved him off, "Eh, no biggie. Anyways, to make a long story short, Ganondorf broke through the divine realm and flooded Hyrule; making it so only the mountains were left, remaining as islands. I was away at another country at the time and was too late to stop him. Doing the only thing I could think of, I escaped through a portal in my world but somehow ended up here in a fight with Marth, kinda like what happened to you."

"Did you win?' asked Ranma curiously.

"Actually no. Marth really handed it to me, but I've gotten stronger since then," responded Link smirking to himself.

Another silence settled over the room but this one was less tense than the last one.

"Oh crap," said Link sitting up suddenly.

"What?"

"We still need to get to Master Hand's office, come on we gotta hurry," Link quickly grabbed Ranma's arm and pulled him out the door.

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Ranma watched impassively as Link flashed his ID card in front of another reader and opened up yet another door. There had been about three of these doors all on their trek to the elevator.

"What's with all the security anyways?" asked Ranma as they started walking again.

"Unfortunately, Master Hand has his fair share of enemies who would just love to get access to all the high tech equipment and data files stored around here. It's a valid precaution if you ask me. Here we are."

Link swiped his card in another reader slot and opened a set of elevator doors. Walking inside, Ranma saw a large control panel with the numbers one to twenty on it.

"Twenty floors?" asked Ranma curiously.

"Floors one through five hold the fighters quarters along with the lunch room and the rec room, floor six holds the item warehouse, floor seven is the pokemon rec room, floor eight is the vehicle storage room, floor nine is a record room. All the fighters' records, data, KO counts and stuff like that are put there. We're going to floor twenty, Master Hand's office."

"What about floors ten to nineteen?"

"No one really knows," said Link regrettably, "Some say those floors hold the secret to Master Hand's success, others say that its just some storage space for other fighters if any more decide to come."

"What do you think it is?"

"Personally, I could care less," Link admitted, "I just came here for the food and the fights."

 _DING!_

"This is your stop," said Link as the elevators opened up onto another hallway, "See you around, maybe."

"You're not coming?"

"These meeting are private business; they don't leave the office unless you want them to. Besides, Master hand wants you to make your own decisions, not be influenced by someone else."

Ranma was about to ask Link something else but then the elevator door closed, leaving him alone in the short hallway leading to Master Hand's office.

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"Come in Ranma,"

Ranma paused in mid-knock and slowly lowered his hand. Cautiously, Ranma opened the door and stepped into Master Hand's office.

The first thing that came to mind when looking around Master Hand's office was that of a principal's office. The office was built very plainly, a few hard wood chairs placed in a semi-circle around an oak desk, behind which sat Master Hand, reading a file labeled Ranma Saotome, a picture of his girl form and his guy form attached to the front.

"Please have a seat," said Master Hand, putting down the file, letting Ranma get a full look at his face.

The best way to describe it was…odd. Master Hand didn't have a face or really any distinguishing features at all. Where his head should have been, there was merely a black sphere in the shape of a head, and a black suit covered the rest of his body from the neck down. The only thing that stood out about him was the two pure white gloves he was wearing.

Tentatively, Ranma took a seat in one of the chairs facing Master Hand.

"Ranma Saotome, age 19, recently enrolled in Furinkan High School and recently returned from a 10 year hiatus into the out-backs of China complete with a Jusenkyo curse and a phobia of cats, correct?"

Ranma nodded confirmation. He was surprised that the man knew his history but then again, he didn't really keep it a secret.

"Of course you already knew that. On the other hand, here's some stuff you probably didn't know. It says here in your folder," Master Hand pushed the vanilla folder forward for Ranma to look at, "That you have been engaged twenty three times by one Genma Saotome, also known as your father."

"What?"

"Sorry, my mistake. Twenty four times. Genma also engaged your girl side to that Kuno character."

Angrily Ranma snatched the folder and started thumbing through the pictures of the various girls he now had attachments to.

"Who are these people?" asked Ranma. He didn't remember any of them from his training trip.

"I believe these were all engagements prior to your birth,"

Ranma's right eye twitched, the hand that wasn't gripping the folder slowly balled into a fist. Master Hand continued on as if he didn't notice.

"Your father Genma really gets around you know that? If I didn't know any better I'd say he knows a few dimension hopping tricks himself."

"Dimension hopping?"

"Well, consider the following. Besides the three problems you have in Nerima, he's also managed to engage you to each of the six sailor scouts for various food and clothing items and you've never seen them since."

"No complaints there," said Ranma sarcastically, "Where else did my old man get to?"

"Well aside from those girls he also engaged you to a cat android robot girl named Nuku Nuku for an illegal passport, some girl named Videl for training under and defeating Hercule, Demon Etna of the netherworld arranged by the overlord himself, Angel Trainee Flonne arranged by the Seraphim himself, and, though it pains me to say it, he did manage to engage you to Kodachi Kuno for a large sum of money."

Ranma's mind was in a mild form of shock as he flipped through the folder as Master Hand read of the names like reciting a poem from a book. Along with the demons and angels he had also managed to engage him to Lucia, (a devil hunter) Gina Diggers (an arranged marriage for a single gold piece), Shion Uzuki (for a plane ticket), Rikku (arranged by Cid for letting Genma stowaway on his airship), Kairi (for a boat ticket), Kagome Higurashi (for several scrolls on demon banishing), Rosaline (arranged by a man named Lord Yago), and a set of twins named Dawn and Eve (for a guide out of a magical land called Xanth).

The martial artist tried to talk but no words would come out of his mouth. Slowly Master Hand reached over and took the folder out of Ranma's hands, still not getting any response from him.

SNAP!

Ranma jumped in his seat as if waking from a trance, he was about to start speaking again but Master Hand interrupted him.

"However that is all in the past now."

"It is?"

"Indeed. While your father may have had the unique ability to get around dimensions I doubt that any of your prospective brides will find you here."

"I don't want to run away from my problems," said Ranma reclining back in his chair and looking at the ceiling, "That's the easy way out."

"You still hold this view even knowing that these are mostly Genma's problems?" asked Master Hand folding his hands and placing them on the desk.

"Well yeah, but it's not like I come off clean either."

Inwardly, Master Hand smiled, "Well then, let me give you a little extra incentive." Reaching under his desk, Master Hand opened a drawer and handed Ranma a sheet of paper.

"Super Smash Bros. universal tournament," Ranma read aloud, "Think you're the best? Then come prove it against fighters from across the multiverse. The winner of this tournament is granted one request from Master Hand."

"A request?" asked Ranma, looking up from the paper.

"A wish basically," clarified the Arena Master, "But wishes take things too literally and out of context if you know what I mean. A request though, that's a bit more open ended and broad."

"So…you're telling me that if I win this tournament then you can get me out of all these engagements?"

"If being the key word though," said Master Hand, "There's a lot of powerful fighters here. If you don't want to compete and go back to Nerima I'll understand…" he let the sentence trail off.

"Please," said Ranma as if he was talking to a child, "Don't write me off that quickly. I can win that tournament no problem."

Master Hand smiled, though no one could really tell. He was pushing the right buttons, "Then are you willing to draw up a contract?" From under his desk he produced another piece of paper with Ranma's picture on it and a place to sign.

At this Ranma paused, Master Hand obviously wanted this contract pretty badly, which probably meant he was getting something out of it that he didn't know. Slowly, he withdrew the pen he was about to use to sign it.

"Something wrong?"

"I dunno," said Ranma, "This contract just seems…"

"Suspicious?" Put in Master Hand finishing Ranma's sentence for him, "Then let me tell you what that contract will give you. First off, this contract is legally binding for two years, in which you will be considered an employee of this arena. During the length of your stay here, you will receive free room and board and medical assistance. We also reserve the right to limit and ban any techniques you might have in the spirit of a good fight. In return, we are not reliable for any injuries you might sustain."

Ranma processed that for a second, "Why are you not reliable for our injuries if you include a medical department here?"

Master Hand shrugged, "That's just something my lawyer insisted that I put in to stop people from suing me. But that's basically the whole contract right there."

"So what do you get out of it then if I'm an…employee of the arena?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, not everyone in the multiverse shares our views on inter-dimensional traveling and fighting. Other times, people who come here bring some of their home world problems with them, and yet others only wish our destruction."

"I don't follow."

"Basically, this means that your part of the Smash Bros. Community. If one of your fellow fighters needs help with a problem then we help him…or her. If someone seeks to destroy our arena, then you fight for us."

 _It almost makes me sound like a Samurai defending my master…_ thought Ranma. Signing this contract would mean that he was in it for the long haul, and there was no backing out either.

"Think for a moment Ranma, what do you really want out of life?" asked Master Hand, interrupting the martial artist's train of thought.

"That's easy, to become a master in the art and to improve myself." That was any martial artists true goal, as it was impossible to completely master the art and one could always improve himself.

"Then you'll fit right in here," said Master Hand pushing the contract forward again, "First and foremost, we're a fighting arena and we always will be."

Ranma looked carefully at the contract, "Alright, but I have one final question. What do you really get out of this? I mean, anyone can protect your arena."

The martial artists could have sworn that Master Hand had smirked when he said that, "Alright you caught me, the real reason I want you here is not only because you're a great fighter, but also because you have a large following," he indicated his file, full of the girls pictures, "This arena always needs new blood, I think good things will happen if you're with us."

Ranma couldn't help but chuckle at that, "Oh you have no idea what you're in for," he said reaching for the contract. Using the pen he signed his name on the line at the bottom and handed it back to Master Hand who stuck it in his file.

"And that's that then." He said with an air of finality, "You can go ahead and take the elevator to the first floor. I'll have someone meet you there to show you around and such. You're free to go."

Ranma got up and was reaching for the doorway when Master Hand said one more thing, "Oh and Ranma?" The martial artist turned around to face the arena master once again, "That contract works two ways you know, if any of your problems show up here, then you'll get help this time."

Smiling despite himself, Ranma exited the office and began his walk down the long hallway.


	52. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 4

I changed so much stuff in this chapter its not even funny. I'll let you figure it out for yourself.

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 **Chapter 4- The Grand Tour**

It occurred to Ranma as he was walking out of the office that he wouldn't be able to access the elevator without a keycard like the one Link had. Wondering for a moment if he should go back, Ranma's doubts were put to rest as he saw that the elevator doors were already open.

Remembering the Arena Master's words, Ranma punched the button for the first floor and waited. His mind was still spinning from the meeting though. Master Hand said that people came here for a good fight but he didn't look like a fighter himself. He wasn't even dressed for combat like everyone else here seemed to be.

Naturally, the first thing he had done when he had entered the office was do a ki scan of the Arena Master but he had found no trace of anything remotely resembling life energy.

" _Maybe I'm being too paranoid,_ " thought Ranma to himself, " _He could just be really good at hiding his ki_." But another part of his mind still told him that Master Hand might not be entirely…

"Ranma?"

The martial artist looked up startled. Distracted by his thoughts the elevator had already opened up, revealing his tour guide to him without him noticing.

It was yet another testament to his life in Nerima that Ranma didn't immediately attack the creature that was gazing at him. Standing half a head taller then him was the strangest turtle/dinosaur hybrid he had ever seen. He stood upright on his hind legs, his front claws built for attacking rather than walking. Spikes adorned his shell and his eyes burned red as if there was a fire behind them. To complete the look, two sharp horns graced the top of his head, making him look like a prefect monster.

"Um…yeah that's me," replied Ranma after a moments hesitation, "Are you my tour guide?"

"Yes," he replied extending a claw forward, "The name's Bowser, from the Mushroom kingdom."

Careful to avoid the sharp points Ranma took Bowser's appendage and shook it, "Names Ranma, from Nerima I guess."

"Oh, before I forget, this is for you," Bower brought forth his other claw and produced a shiny round disk shaped object with a small red button on it, "A little housewarming gift from Master Hand."

"What is it?"

"The double jump; specially produced for the Smash Bros. Arena."

"Double jump?"

"You remember in your fight with Samus how she seemed to stand on thin air for a second to get back onto the stage?"

"Yeah, every time I knocked her off the stage she always seemed to recover in mid air and do an extra jump, I couldn't even see how she was doing it."

"That's the double jump. When the arena first started Master Hand thought that the fights were too short, so he supplied this TM for everyone to use."

"TM?"

"Technical Machine. A device from Mewtwo's world."

Ranma didn't know who Mewtwo was but he shrugged and began following behind Bowser as he plodded through the hallways.

"The most important thing you have to remember about fighting in the Smash arena is that you need to knock your opponent out of the level your on. You can sit there and kick em around all day but you won't win unless you're the last one standing on the stage."

"Er…no offense but it seems like that would be impossible to throw you anywhere."

Bowser gave a deep chuckle, "Normally yes, but this type of fighting is anything but normal. When you take a hit, you still feel some of it, but the impact is significantly lessened. Instead, you accumulate damage."

"And…what does that do?"

"The more damage you have, the farther you fly," he said simply.

Ranma took some time to mull that over in his head, it was vastly different from his usual fighting style but it had similarities.

"Just like learning a new fighting style," said Ranma to himself as he eyed the TM Bowser had given him. Without a second thought, Ranma pressed the red button.

A flash of light radiated out from the TM and hit Ranma square in the head. Information flooded his mind as the new technique went through his brain, ingraining itself in his conscious so he couldn't forget it.

Next thing he knew, Bowser was steadying him, carefully trying not to slash him in the process, "Steady there Mr. Saotome," he said, "Learning a new technique like that's quite a rush."

Ranma steadied himself and nodded his thanks to Bowser, itching to try out the new move. His mind was already building possibilities.

A couple more minutes of walking brought them to a large double door, "This is the mess hall," said Bowser flashing his keycard in front of the reader, "There are always cooks on duty here so you can come and eat here pretty much any time you like." The doors opened up onto what Ranma could best describe as a culture shock.

While he had seen most of the people that were gathered in the room when he had finished his fight with Samus, he had been half unconscious then. Most of the people there were human; he saw Marth and Link sitting over at one table with Samus and some girl he had never seen before, but some tables held completely different species.

A gigantic yellow mouse like creature was sitting with two pink round things, talking in a completely alien language of squeaks, grunts, and some hand gestures. They didn't appear to be talking the same way but apparently they understood each other just fine.

Suddenly the talking at the table stopped as the yellow mouse spotted Ranma, "Pikia Pika!"

Ranma scratched his head, "Um…am I supposed to understand that?"

Bowser chuckled, "The only one who can understand them and translate is Mewtwo," explained Bowser, "But I think he's inviting you to sit down."

The Martial Artist shrugged and walked over to the table, "I could use something to eat." The spiked turtle took a seat next to him.

"Pika pikachu?" asked the mouse as he sat down. Although he couldn't understand a single word, it was easy to tell what he asked.

"Yeah I'm a fighter here now, my names Ranma." He provided his hand for Pikachu to shake, "What's your name?"

The yellow mouse pointed a paw at himself and said, "Pikachu!"

The pink round thing sitting next to him also gestured at herself and said, "Jigglypuff!"

"Pikachu and Jigglypuff are Pokemon," provided Bowser, "They came here with Mewtwo."

"Who's Mewtwo?" asked Ranma as he shook hands with Jigglypuff.

"Master Hand's right hand man, no pun intended."

"So…who are you?" he asked towards the second pink blob that was sitting on his other side across from Jigglypuff.

"That's Kirby," provided Bowser before Kirby could respond, "He hasn't quite mastered any recognizable dialect to say his name yet."

"How did Master Hand draw up contracts with all these people if none of them can speak?"

"Mewtwo, once again. He doesn't talk like normal people do, he talks with telepathy."

"Tele-wha?"

"Telepathy, or rather mind speak."

"Jiggly jigglypuff!"

It was by far one of the most bizarre conversations that Ranma had ever had. Half of the time it was obvious what the creatures were asking but other times the pokemon had to go as far as using charades to make the two understand.

A loud bump interrupted their conversation, announcing the arrival of the food as the kitchen doors banged opened. In walked several turtles, almost mini versions of Bowser except without the horns and the spikes, walking upright pushing three carts loaded with food.

"Relations of yours?" asked Ranma as he observed the humanoid turtles serving their food.

"Minions actually," said Bowser as he accepted a tray from one of them, "Thanks koopa."

Ranma accepted his tray from a turtle with a red shell and began eating at his usual pace. Although it wasn't Kasumi grade cooking the turtles knew how to make a meal. Ten seconds later Ranma set his tray down, noticing the looks his companions were giving him for the first time, "What?"

"Waaah!" said Kirby drawing Ranma's eyes to him as if to say, 'Watch this!'

The pink blob closed his eyes for a second and then opened his mouth impossibly wide. Then a sound like a vacuum cleaner turned on and the whole meal that was sitting before Kirby was sucked into his mouth, tray and everything.

Ranma blinked. Kirby burped. Ranma's had shot up to intercept the fork that went flying towards his face.

"Now that was impressive."

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"So where was everyone else?" asked Ranma as they exited the mess hall.

"Off fighting. During the day one on one league matches take place between the fighters. At the end of the year the person with the most wins gets the reward."

"And that is…?"

"Only the people who win know that."

Ranma shrugged, he'd just have to win to find out then, "So where are we headed to now?" he asked.

"The rec room, located one floor up."

Ranma hadn't noticed but they had complete circle, coming right back to the elevator that Ranma had ridden earlier that morning, "Um…no offense or anything but isn't there a weight limit on these things?"

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The recreation room was quite nice, sporting several different activities including a mini arcade, pool tables, a swimming pool and, what Bowser called, a holographic room.

"It's basically a sports room using the same dimensional technology Master Hand uses for the arenas. It can also be used as a training room against some specially made wire frames."

"Wire frames?"

"Dummy bots, built for the sole purpose of being pounded on. Want to try it out?"

Ranma shrugged and walked over to the door, "Sure, I haven't gotten my morning workout yet."

Bowser chuckled and walked over to the console by the door. Pressing a few buttons with his claw, the door opened.

"I'll have to adjust a few things once you get inside since this is your first time. Go ahead and step on in."

Ranma walked through the doorway and into an incredibly unspectacular square room with blue walls. Other than a small terminal on the far wall, there was nothing about it that seemed futuristic.

"Can you hear me?" said Bowser's voice from above.

"Yeah I can…so where are the enemies?"

"In good time, right now I need you to move to the wall with the terminal on it. You need to input some information"

Ranma did what he was told and walked over to the computer. Typing slowly, mostly because he was inexperienced, the martial artist gave the computer several small details about himself including his weight, size, and age. When he pressed enter, a wall next to the computer suddenly opened onto a pair of bracers, much like the ones he was wearing.

"Go ahead and put them on," said Bowser before he could ask a question. Taking off his old ones, Ranma replaced them with the light metal ones.

"So what are these for?"

"Smash fighting works a little differently from your normal brawls. Normally you'd be able to kick around an opponent until he collapses from damage but you can't do that here. If you want to beat your opponent you have to throw him off the stage, into the "Out of Arena" area. You can do this by knocking him off the side, throwing him downwards, or hitting him into...as people in Japan say…LEO."

Ranma nodded his head having heard the explanation already, "

"Take a look at the bracer on your left arm."

Ranma looked and saw a digital readout with three numbers and a percent sign next to it. It read three zeros.

"The bracer on your left shows the amount of damage you've taken from attacks and other things. The more damage you take the further you fly from an attack. Getting more damage will also slightly fatigue you just as if you were in an actual fight."

Ranma nodded in understanding, "So basically all I have to do is beat up my enemy and sent them flying after they have enough damage? Sounds easy enough."

Bowser chuckled, which came out as more of a deep slightly sinister laugh, "Oh it sounds easy alright, but I think you'll find this kind of combat just as intense as the regular brand of fighting. Now, one more thing before you begin, if you'll take a look at the bracer on your right arm,"

The martial artist looked and saw another mini screen, this one showing a tiny picture of his face, "This readout displays how many lives you have. Regular smash combat tends to go by rather quickly so you can usually get knocked out of the arena three times before you're finished for good.

"Alright I get it. Can I start now?" He asked a bit impatiently.

Outside Bowser smiled, he was just like a kid who had found a new toy, "Alright then, beginning simulation, stage Battlefield."

Ranma watched in fascination as the room around him began to disappear, morphing into an arena similar to the one he had fought Samus on, but with an additional three circular platforms rotating slowly around its perimeter.

"Begin program fifty man melee."

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Bowser watched fascinated as the martial artist proceeded to tear apart the spawning wire frames faster than they could appear. His speed rivaled Sheik's but unlike her he had the power to back it up and send people flying with ease.

He also noticed that Ranma was having incredible fun using the double jump technique, using it to wall kick in the air, push off the air downwards to launch at his opponent, and generally just run circles around the wire frames. Ten of them had already fallen within the first fifteen seconds.

" _Interesting."_

Bowser hadn't even heard the person who had came up behind him. Reacting on instinct, Bowser turned around swinging…only to find his hand abruptly stopped inches away from Mewtwo's head, held by an invisible force.

"Heh…sorry about that," said Bowser sheepishly as he retracted his claw.

Mewtwo looked unfazed as he walked over to the monitor which showed Ranma fighting the wire frames. He had just knocked off number thirty and had only taken 24 damage.

" _It looks as though my next opponent is going to be a fun challenge indeed."_

"Wait…your NEXT opponent?"

" _Haven't you heard? Mr. Saotome in there is set to be in the league matches starting tomorrow."_

"Tomorrow? Don't you think that's a bit soon? I mean, he just started using the equipment today!"

" _Not at all,"_ said Mewtwo still focusing on the screen, _"he seems to have adapted quite quickly really."_

Bowser looked back at the screen to see that Ranma had finished off the last of the wire frames in forty seconds flat.

" _Hmm, I believe he just topped my record of forty-two seconds as well. It shall be very interesting indeed."_ With that Mewtwo turned around and glided off.

There was a loud pssssssht and the door to the holo room opened.

"Well how was it?" asked Bowser leading Ranma back to the elevator.

"Meh, too easy," said Ranma offhand, "The guys didn't really put up much of a fight and they flew off the stage too quickly for me to really get going."

"I'll be sure to introduce you to cruel melee sometime then," After all, not even Mewtwo could survive longer than thirty seconds in that hell, "I see you liked the double jump TM."

Ranma's grin said everything.

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"And this here is our item factory."

Ranma looked up in awe at the story high shelves that lined the warehouse like room they had just entered, filled with tools, equipment, and some things he had never even seen before. There were some obvious ones like some black bombs and baseball bats, but some things were completely alien like the long line of red and white balls near a stack of green turtle shells.

"So what are these for?"

"To make a fight more interesting and unpredictable, Master Hand had these items specially commissioned from various universes to randomly appear on the arenas. Remember the golden rule of smash bros, chaos always makes for a better fight."

Ranma decided not to mention all the times where the chaos in his life had made for some horrifically bad fights. The Hiryu Shoten Ha fight with Happosai came to mind almost immediately.

Shaking his head clear of memories best left forgotten, he began browsing the items on display, "What's this one do?" he asked curiously picking up a green shell and spinning it on his finger.

"You'll want to be careful with those," cautioned Bowser stepping back slightly, "They may be small but they pack a lot of punch."

Shrugging, he lightly tossed the shell back onto the shelf. That's when things went to hell.

The curious thing about the green koopa shell is that while it is one of the hardest items on earth and can withstand almost any amount of force, if you so much as breathe on it, the poor traction it has could make it slide for a mile.

Thus, the slight toss Ranma made was enough to send the shell careening down the shelf, knocking off the other assorted items on display. Most bounced harmlessly to the ground but one item, specifically a red and white ball shaped item, fell to the ground and opened in a flash of light.

"Um…Bowser?" queried Ranma as he slowly backed away from the lightshow, "What's going on?"

The koopa king only has time to shout, "DUCK!" before the light faded and revealed a blue turtle. Ranma stood there dazed for a few seconds wondering why a turtle was so threatening (even if it was only slightly smaller than Bowser), before seeing the two giant cannons on its back.

Coincidently, if this strange beast had shot anything else from his cannons such as, laser beams, cannon balls, or maybe even energy blasts, Ranma would have been able to dodge it no problem. However, this particular pokemon fired the bane of Ranma's existence.

"BLASTOISE!" it cried before shooting a jet of high powered water at Ranma. Needless to say, he didn't have a chance in hell of dodging it. Along with the curse activating, he also made quick friends with another shelf behind him holding more of the red and white balls of terror.

Things quickly degraded into chaos after that. Several new colorful pokemon were released from their balls and began releasing their attacks into the factory, knocking over more items and…well you get the picture.

" _ **STOP!"**_

Ranma-chan, who was almost on her feet again, fell backwards into the shelf again from the voice inside her head. Her ears hadn't heard anything at all but her mind could feel the bold lettering on the command. All movement in the factory stopped, except for one stupid orange and white fish still flopping around on the ground.

Looking up, Ranma got his first look at one of the most powerful pokemon in existence. Standing a head taller than his girl form and probably a few inches above his guy form, the purple pokemon gave off an aura that dwarfed Saffron's. Hovering above the ground, Mewtwo glided into the midst of the carnage as if it were taking a casual walk.

" _All of you are to return to your pokeballs. Do not come out for the rest of the day. Before you make complete fools of yourselves again, look around for an opponent before using your attack."_

Ranma fought the urge to return to her non-existent pokeball. The pokemon obviously hadn't noticed her and forgot to block the mental command he gave her.

Bowser sighed as he gathered up the pokeballs and placed them back on the shelf. The purple pokemon walked over to a red button and pressed it, causing an alarm to sound from somewhere.

The martial artist watched amazed as several turtles with helmets on (much like the ones that had served her meal) walked in with tiny hammers and began cleaning the place up. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed that this had happened before. Several times it seamed. The turtles seemed very adapt in making repairs and everything was quickly returning to its organized state.

A clawed hand reached out to give her a hand up out of the rubble. Ranma-chan took it only to almost be dropped back into the rubble as Bowser took his first look at the transformed fighter.

"Uh…Ranma? Is that…you?" asked Bowser, surprise showing on his face.

The pokemon also seemed shocked even though it was impossible to read his expression, _"I thought the Ranma Master Hand recruited was a male."_

 _Out of all the pokemon I could have gotten I had to get the water one didn't I?_ Thought Ranma indignantly, _Fire pokemon? Nah, getting burned would have been too easy, no we got to put Mr. Saotome in another embarrassing situation and go through another long winded explanation. God damn I hate Jusenkyo._

Sighing softly Ranma-chan began with an all too familiar catch phrase, "I'm Ranma Saotome…sorry about all this." At least this time she actually had something to be sorry for.

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"So you're telling me that this place…jukunkyo,"

"Jusenkyo."

"Whatever, so you're telling me that this place makes it so you turn into a girl when hit with cold water?"

"And a guy with warm water."

Mewtwo looked thoughtful, _"So I guess the obvious question is are you…"_

"I'm a guy," said Ranma before Mewtwo could finish the thought, "I always am and always will be no matter how I look."

The purple pokemon walked over to the broken shelf where some water had pooled on the ground. Raising his hand Mewtwo closed his eyes and concentrated. Ranma felt the spike in energy and watched amazed as the liquid on the ground rose up and formed into a ball in Mewtwo's hand.

Opening his eyes, Mewtwo moved the water over to where Bowser was standing, _"If you would?"_

"Stand back," warned Bowser. Taking a deep breath, the koopa king breathed out a small stream of bright yellow flames towards the water, heating it up in seconds. When Bowser stopped, Mewtwo moved the water over Ranma's head before dropping it onto him, transforming him back into his birth form.

" _Simply amazing,"_ thought Mewtwo, _"A reversible evolution triggered by water."_

"A what?"

" _Never mind,"_ thought Mewtwo waving him off, _"Don't worry about the mess, this happens all the time around here. More importantly, are you ready for your first fight tomorrow?"_

Ranma grinned, "Naturally."

" _Then I'll look forward to fighting you as well."_

"So you're my opponent huh? That's good; I'd really hate to have a pushover in my first round." Ranma didn't look the least bit intimidated that someone with nearly twice the power of saffron was his opponent. It was hard to tell if it was just bravery or foolishness.

Standing on the side, Bowser sweatdropped as the two looked at each other with their most menacing glares (at least, as menacing as Mewtwo's expressionless face could get), slightly flaring up their ki as if trying to show superiority. They probably would have stood there all day if he had let them.

"Um guys, lets try not to destroy the item factory twice in one day okay?"

Ranma had the grace to look sheepish as he deflated his aura to his normal size. Mewtwo did the same although he remained expressionless.

"We should make our way back to the dining hall," continued Bowser, "Master Hand should be giving his dinner speech tonight. I hear he's going to be announcing the double-battles tournament tonight."

"Double battles?"

"What, you thought that all these fights were one on one? A sub-dimensional arena can hold up to ten people at a time with a few guys in limbo, but matches around here usually don't go beyond four people, otherwise it just turns into a mess."

Mewtwo stayed behind to supervise the last of the cleaning while Bowser and Ranma moved towards the dining hall.

"How do they determine who your partner will be?"

Bowser snorted, "Hell if I know. The last time I participated in the double battles tournament two years ago they paired me up with Peach of all people!"

"Um…who's Peach?"

"Oh that's right, you really don't know anything about me do you?"

"No not really…"

"Well then, let me introduce myself, I'm Bowser from a place called the Mushroom Kingdom. It all started one day when my dad told me about the right of initiation. In order to become a true Giga Koopa, I had to kidnap a princess…"

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"Wait, so you're telling me that he dropped the bridge out from under you?" said Ranma trying his best not to laugh.

Bowser looked perturbed, "Hey it wasn't my fault! I didn't even build those castles, I just took them over! Besides, it's not like I just left the freaking axe out in the open like that!"

"So what happened after that?"

"Meh. I got dropped in the lava, which really doesn't hurt me at all, and plotted my revenge which involved me kidnapping Peach again."

"That easily? I would have thought she would have beefed security after the first time she got kidnapped."

"Yeah well her security force consists of a bunch of people who have mushrooms for heads. Mario is just the plumber; he's not actually a subject. I've kidnapped peach about five or six times now and all mushroom head did was call Mario and his brother Luigi every single time."

Ranma chuckled, he knew that feeling. What was that? Akane got kidnapped by a strange Chinese guy? Better go rescue her, its not like anyone else will. Oh what's that? The mighty phoenix lord has Akane in his clutches? Better pack my bags; I don't think emotional baggage is going to rescue his daughter anytime soon. That's me, Ranma Saotome, bodyguard service twenty four seven, 365 days a year including leap years and holidays.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence, Bowser and Ranma musing over their thoughts. A couple minutes later and they were standing outside the dining hall for the second time that day.

"Well what do you think?" asked Bowser finally, pausing before the great hall.

"It's an awesome place but is there, you know, any place outside this building?"

Bowser smirked, "I was wondering when you were going to ask that question," Going over to a window that Ranma hadn't noticed the first time he passed it, Bowser pulled open the shade.

Ranma was nearly blinded by the sunlight he hadn't seen for hours. From his viewpoint he could see several Western style houses and a large mansion in the background. Beyond that was a field that seemed to stretch on forever.

"W-w-what is this place?" asked Ranma shocked. Culture shocked didn't even begin to describe how he felt now.

Bowser openly laughed at Ranma's expression, "I lied when I said that this was merely Smash Headquarters. All these houses hold the workforce of this arena, the ones who assist in battle, and the pokemon who make things interesting. This isn't just a Smash Headquarters; this is a Smash Planet, home of the ultimate fighters."

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One thing I've been seeing in a lot of fics lately (and not just Ranma fics either) are that most poorly written fics have a tendency to try and fix everything at the same time (most commonly seen in Harry Potter and Naruto). Determined not to do that, I decided to leave the Neko Ken unmentioned in this chapter to be used as a plot device for later on.


	53. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 5

A/N: I wanted to release this earlier but one of my pre-readers had yet to get back to me. After two weeks of waiting I decided to go ahead and post this anyways. Once again, I'm still looking for pre-readers. PM if you're interested.

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Even though he had been there a mere two hours before, the dining hall looked completely different. Instead of the long tables that had been set up during lunch, there were now several smaller round tables spread out in front of a stage and the lights were dimmer, giving the place a restaurant type feel. There was a quiet lull of conversation at each table but as soon as the doors opened the talking feel silent as everyone turned to look at the new arrivals.

Ranma felt a little awkward. Bowser had gone off to sit with Peach and Mario leaving him standing in front of the doors wondering where to sit. He wasn't exactly shy, but he barely knew any of these people…it didn't help that everyone was still staring at him.

The doors opened again and Ranma felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he came face to face with the visor of Samus. Pushing gently, the ranged fighter steered Ranma over to a table where Link and some girl he had never seen before were sitting. Nodding his thanks Ranma sat down between Link and Samus and flipped through the menu that was in front of him.

"Well, how was your tour?" asked Link

Ranma shrugged, "Pretty good actually. I tried out the holographic room and almost destroyed the item factory with a turtle shell."

The girl next to Link chucked softly, "So it's happened to you too huh? I don't think there's a single person here who hasn't destroyed it. My name is Zelda by the way."

"Ranma Saotome," said the martial artist glancing over the menu. Most of the things on it were Japanese but there were some western style foods as well.

Silence dominated the table. Another Koopa came to take their orders and left. Samus merely gave the turtle a nod without saying anything.

"You know, not that I'm complaining or anything," said Ranma attempting to break the silence, "but how exactly does Master Hand pay for this kind of stuff?"

"Sponsors," provided Link, "The fights that take place here are aired on national television. Seeing as how the show stays in the top ten networks year-round Master Hand can charge a small fortune for a 30-second advertisement slot."

"So what did you think of Master Hand?" asked Zelda before the silence could overtake the table again.

"He's…" Ranma paused. What did he think of Master Hand? The guy seemed nice enough but he had no ki signature or anything that could mark him as human. Not to mention he knew things about his life that he didn't even know, "…a little weird." He finished lamely.

Zelda smirked knowingly, "Everyone gets that impression at first but he has his head in the right place…unlike some other all-powerful beings."

The slight frown on Link's face didn't go un-noticed.

"So which god did you piss off?" asked Ranma throwing tact out the window.

Link and Zelda both winced. Ranma felt a hand on his arm. Turning he saw Samus giving him a small shake of the head, telling him without words to drop the subject.

"Sorry," said Ranma quickly. Desperately he reached for another topic of conversation before the un-comfortable silence could fall on the table again, "I've angered my fair share of people too. This one guy, he's still after my hide all because I stole some bread from him in Middle School…"

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"Wait," said Link trying to get his laughter under control, "so you're telling me that you just jumped over his head and he ran straight through the school trying to find you?"

"Yeah and I didn't see him for three days after that either."

Zelda chuckled quietly while Link laughed out loud. Next to him Samus' suit was also trembling although no noise came out. During their talk the koopa cooks had taken their orders and left. Now they were returning with the plates. Having eaten a mere two hours ago, Ranma had ordered a fairly normal sized meal instead of his usual feast.

While they were eating, Ranma at a semi-normal pace for once, the newly initiated Smash Fighter kept them entertained with stories of his homeworld. He had just gotten to the story of Happosai's awakening when the lights suddenly dimmed and a bright spotlight lit the stage.

"What's going on?"

"Master Hand's making a speech," provided Link, "He does it every night when something big is about to happen."

Without further flair or formality, Master Hand casually walked out from behind the curtain, onto the stage and began speaking into the mike.

"As many of you have suspected, this day marks the fifth anniversary of the creation of the Super Smash Bros world." The statement was met with some casual applause, "On a more interesting level though, this day will mark the official start of a brand new member joining us. Please give a hand for Ranma Saotome from Nerima!"

The last word was practically shouted into the Mike. The spotlight moved over to where Ranma was sitting and Samus pushed him to his feet. Ranma just stood there awkwardly with his hand behind his head not sure what to say.

"Furthermore, our guest has served one other very important purpose, because we now have an even number of competitors once again. Therefore, I am re-opening the double-battles tournament!"

This was met with applause and a few whistles.

"Once again, pairings will be completely random, the listings are set to go up one month from now, so until then, enjoy the remainder of the league season."

Ranma clapped along with everyone else. Master Hand held up his hand for silence, getting it instantly.

"Finally, I have wonderful news for all of you. In two years time we will be holding the ultimate tournament, the ultimate test of strength, skill, and endurance. Things are about to start picking up around here again. New challengers will be coming out of the woodwork, new items are being developed in our factories as we speak, Smash HQ will never be the same again. This is a high stakes fight, in which the winner will receive one single unfiltered, no strings attached wish from the gods themselves!"

Dead silence met his statement. He didn't seem to be expecting a response though and left through the curtain. The silence lasted for another second before excited whispers and talk began circulating the room.

 _I can't believe it_ , thought Ranma, _I could actually get a cure! A real honest to goodness cure from the gods themselves!_

So wrapped up in thought, he almost missed the sudden exchange between Zelda and Link.

"You know what this means right Link?"

"Yeah. This is what we've been waiting for."

"Huh?" said Ranma clueless.

Link sighed, "When Master Hand drew up our contracts, he promised us that an opportunity to restore our land to its former glory would come along. I think this is it."

Recalling his conversation with Link earlier that day, Ranma nodded, strangely serious for once, "Man, it makes my problems seem pretty small in comparison."

"Really?" asked Zelda curiously, "What would you wish for then?"

"Well, I've had this particular curse hounding me for a while now," he admitted picking up a glass of water.

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"Thankfully it's not as bad as some of the curses my rivals got," finished female Ranma as he poured the hot water on himself, "Hell, I'll take turning into a girl over turning into a duck any day."

Zelda smiled, "Ranma I don't think your problems are insignificant."

"Huh? But I…"

"Your problem is merely different from ours, not any less important."

Ranma really didn't know what to say, it was the first time he could remember actually getting sympathy for the curse instead of just a casual "whatever" or a table to the head.

Zelda's smile turned mischievous, "Of course, that doesn't mean that we're going to go any easier on you."

The martial artist countered with a smile of his own, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"What would you wish for?" asked Ranma suddenly turning towards Samus. Her only response was a shrug of her mechanical shoulders.

The four of them finished their meal in comfortable silence; even Samus who had somehow eaten all of her food and had placed her helmet back on before Ranma had even finished drinking his water.

Half an hour later, Ranma and Link were slowly walking back to their dorm in silence, the meal making them somewhat drowsy. They were standing in front of the dorm room when Link paused in mid-motion, about to swipe his card.

"Hey…Ranma…can I talk to you for a bit?"

His drowsiness faded. Something told him that this conversation would be significantly more serious than their dinner conversation, "Sure…what is it?"

"Not here," he said shaking his head, "Come on…follow me."

Curious, Ranma followed as Link led him back to the transport room where he had first fallen out into the locker room.

"Computer," said Link suddenly, "load the level Hyrule Temple, stock match one no time limit, two fighters."

Two of the four metal cylinders opened up, Link stepped in one, "Well come on."

Ranma cautiously got into the other one.

TRANSFER LINK. TRANSFER RANMA.

The martial artist looked around wondering where female voice had come from but didn't see any speakers around. With a snap, the metal door closed in front of him leaving him in darkness for a second.

SCANNER LINK. SCANNER RANMA.

A bright light came on inside the scanner while smaller light displays raced across the wall of the tube.

VIRTUALIZATION.

Ranma closed his eyes as the light around him became blinding. He heard the sound of wind and felt his hair rise.

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READY!

The martial artist opened his eyes as the angel platform disappeared out from under him, dropping him softly onto the stone ground.

FIGHT!

Ranma looked at Link walking towards him, his sword still in its sheath, "Are we fighting?" he asked curiously.

"Meh, if you want to. I just thought this would be a good place to talk that all," Link walked over to the edge of the level and sat down, "So what do you think of it?" He asked, waving a hand behind himself to indicate the level.

Bewildered Ranma turned away from Link to take in the surroundings. The arena was incredibly big compared to the stage he had fought Samus on and had a lot more detail as well. It appeared that he was in a sort of ruins with debris scattered haphazardly around. On the surface it didn't look like much but he could distinctly feel a mystic quality in the air.

"Bit of a fixer upper," said Ranma trying to sound casual. The lame joke died in the wind, "I can feel a…presence here," said Ranma a bit more seriously, "Like some sort of… timeless energy. It doesn't feel like ki but it…ah I dunno."

Link nodded sagely, "This is last piece that remains of my homeland under the waves."

Ranma didn't say anything but it didn't seem like Link was expecting him to, "When I got back to the land of Hyrule after helping the oracles of season and time, it was raining. Not just a small drizzle, but sheets of freezing cold rain. Water was already starting to gather in pools on the fields around the castle."

The martial artist sighed and sat down beside Link, "So what did you do?"

"I raced my horse, Epona, back to the castle as fast as I could. Along the way I passed many people fleeing the towns and castle. Everyone looked at me as though I were crazy for wanting to go back. When I got there, it was worse that I feared."

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"Take only what you can carry and no more! Leave behind your valuables and possessions. Only bring what you need to survive!"

Link paused momentarily to take in the scene. Standing in the market square was Zelda along with several guards rushing people out of the city. Water was already starting to overflow from the sewer systems under the castle-town.

Frantic, the Hero of Time dismounted his horse and ran towards Zelda. A couple of guards tried to get in his way but he merely pushed them aside, "Zelda!" he practically shouted, "What's going on?"

Zelda turned around, shocked at the sound of the voice; after all, Link had been gone for nearly a year on his never ending hero's quest, "Ganon's escaped," she said after a moment's hesitation, "He's launching an attack from the divine realms using all the power he saved up during his imprisonment. He's flooding the land." Despite the seriousness of the situation, she was calm, cool, and collected as someone of her stature required.

"How is this possible?" asked Link practically shouting, "The gods themselves imprisoned Ganon in the divine realm why can't they do anything about it?"

"I've tried Link," she admitted miserably, "They're not responding. I can't even reach the great sages."

"What are we going to do then?"

"I've done everything I could. I'm sending the people of Hyrule to Death Mountain. Hopefully the waters won't reach there."

Link wanted to do something. Anything. If there was one thing he hated it was being powerless.

"The deku sprout," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"The deku sprout. He's connected to the gods. Maybe he can tell us what we can do to stop this."

"Link, that tree is only a child not even a century old. What could he-"

"Would you rather sit around and do nothing?" Link shouted, "That tree is the only connection we have left to the divine realm! At the very least he can tell us why they weren't able to keep him captive!"

Zelda turned away, "Do what you must Link but I have to get these people to safety. I cannot afford to place my hopes in some obscure chance."

The Hero of Time didn't say anything. Angrily he walked over to Epona and mounted her, "Then let us hope princess," he said icily, "that you never have to place your hopes in me again."

It occurred to him as he was riding away from the palace that things were never going to be the same between them again.

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The deku's grove was surprisingly dry compared to everything else. Dark storm clouds had blotted out the sun but the small enclosed forest sill gave off a feeling of peace even while the land was being submerged around them.

"I've been waiting for you Link." Said the sprout as the Hero of Time jumped off his horse. The deku sprout had grown during Link's adventures and was now taller than him.

Mentally Link celebrated, his gambit had paid off. It was a good thing too as the fields were pretty much impossible to ride on now. Hyrule field was more like Hyrule swamp.

"Please tell me you can do something about this." Link said straining to keep his voice calm.

"I am sorry Link, but there is nothing I can do. There is, however, something you can do."

"What is it? Tell me!"

"You need to escape Link."

Link couldn't hold it anymore, "Do you mean to tell me that after all this shit we went through to imprison him the only thing I can do now is run away?! Where in the hell are our gods in charge of the divine realm? What happened to our so called "Great Sages" who were supposed to stop this from happening in the first place?"

"Link," said the deku sprout softly after Link had finished, "the great sages are dead. Ganon cast them out and took control of the divine realm."

The small tree continued seemingly oblivious to Link's shocked look, "Even in the divine realm, it was impossible to separate Ganon from the Triforce of Power. Over time he gathered enough stored power to fight against his imprisonment. It is impossible for people to actually die in the divine realm but the sage's spirits have been cast far enough to the edge of the universe to be considered dead to us."

"There is nothing left for you to do here Link, but if you escape you can come back and fight again. Use your Ocarina to warp to the temple of time and pick up Zelda, then warp to the forest temple. I will use the last of my power to open up a portal to a place where you can train and grow stronger. Then you can come back and defeat him."

Numbly, Link took out the Ocarina of Time, "What about everyone else?"

"Zelda had the right idea. This flood will not reach to the mountain peaks. Most of the humans have already escaped and I don't think the Zora's will mind the change that much."

"What about the Kokiri, the people staying here?"

"I have already sent them to Death Mountain. They will have to learn to live with growing old and eventually dying, just like everyone else."

Link tried but he couldn't stop a few tears from coming to his eyes, "It's so unfair, after all we've been through our victory is destroyed again."

"No one likes feeling useless," counseled the tree, an invisible wind ruffling its leaves in imitation of a sigh, "but if you remain there will be no hope for Hyrule. At least this way we have a chance."

"What about Epona?"

"I will put her in a suspended sleep. She will neither age nor drown. The magic will last for three years. Hopefully that will give you enough time."

Link couldn't think of anything else to say. With a final pat of his horse, Link took out the familiar blue Ocarina and played the song of time.

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"When we went through the portal, we ended up in the smash arena. I lost spectacularly to Marth and Zelda lost narrowly to Samus. Master Hand met up with us and promised us that in two years time, he'll give us a chance at resurrecting our home-world if we stayed and fought at the arena. With tonight's announcement, I'm sure this is the opportunity we've been waiting for."

Ranma had been silent during Link's story. His life had been pretty bad but to have your home-world essentially destroyed just when you thought you had saved it? That was downright cruel.

"That's…uh…pretty intense," he said awkwardly.

"I've only known you for an incredibly short time," began Link again after a moment of silence, "but I feel a sort of…kinship with you."

"Well…thanks. I think you're a pretty cool guy too, but why did you bring me here?"

Silence hung in the air for a while, Link looked as if he was trying to gather the courage to speak.

"I want to ask something of you," he admitted finally, "as one friend to another."

"What is it Link?"

"I know that this is going to sound complete self-centered and selfish but I'm desperate. I don't want it to seem like I'm using you but…"

"Link, spit it out already. What did you want to ask me?"

The Hero of Time took a breath, "Alright, I want your help. I want your help restoring my homeland. Zelda may be above begging other people for help but I'm not. Please Ranma, Zelda and I can't do this by ourselves, not against so many others."

A few hundred thoughts flashed through Ranma's head at that instant. If he was getting what Link was saying, he wanted him to use his wish, provided that he won the tournament, to help restore his land of Hyrule instead of curing his curse.

Logically, it was a bit selfish. He wanted Ranma to use a once in a lifetime opportunity to save a bunch of people and a land he didn't even know about.

 _But that doesn't make them any less important._ Said his conscience.

"I don't want to feel like I'm pressuring you into this. If you don't want to help me we can still be friends. I won't hold it against you."

If Link had used any other argument, had attempted any other form of persuasion, the martial artist probably would have refused, but Link had mistakenly done what no one in Nerima had ever thought to do. He gave him a choice.

" _You must marry Akane Tendo, the schools must be joined!"_

" _Shampoo is already your bride. You don't have any choice in this matter."_

" _Oh he wants Akane, definitely."_

" _Ranma is my fiancé you jackass, his father stole my dowry!"_

" _So will you be paying your debt or are we going to have some camera time?"_

" _Pigtailed girl I love you!"_

" _OHOHOHOHO! Ranma is mine you hussy!"_

The list went on and on and on.

"Ranma?"

The martial artist shook himself out of his private flashbacks, "Sorry," he said silently getting up, "Link, I've decided. I'm going to help you."

Link smiled and stood up next to him. Extending his hand Link said, "The people on your homeworld must have been very lucky to have you around, well, except maybe that Ryoga fellow."

Ranma smirked and shook his hand, "Lucky? Heh, they wouldn't have been able to survive without me."

"So, I heard you beat the record for fifty man melee in the holo room today."

"Heh, those guys were nothing. It was like fighting several different versions of my tomboy fiancé. By the way, how are we supposed to get out of here anyways?"

"Well this is technically only a stock one match so if one of us dies then we'll be able to get out."

Link's smirk said everything. Both fighters looked at each other for a couple seconds before jumping away. With a ring, Link's sword was in his left hand, his shield in his right. Ranma was standing on top of one of the smaller pillars, ready to spring at a moments notice.

"Swords work a little differently in this arena than in the real world," explained Link eyeing Ranma carefully, "Instead of a cut, you'll feel a blunt impact but depending on where I hit you'll take damage accordingly."

"Thanks for the info but I probably won't be feeling anything," said Ranma cockily.

Link only smirked, "I haven't been fighting at this arena two years for nothing you know." And with that Link threw his sword into the air.

Slightly shocked, Ranma automatically looked towards the sword and almost missed the small expenditure of ki sign of something being pulled out of stuff space. Jumping off the pillar, Ranma dodged the boomerang coming towards him, only to have to duck suddenly as an arrow whizzed over his shoulder.

Before he could reorient himself Link had jumped into the air, caught his sword and was performing a down-slash on him. Unfortunately he didn't have enough time to roll out of the way and took a partial blow to the shoulder.

Like Link had said, the sword hit with a blunt impact that staggered him a bit but didn't actually cause a cut. Realistically, he could have reinforced the limb with his ki to prevent the damage but had he not known that trick the blow probably would have taken his arm in the real world.

Ranma used the momentary recovery period of Link's down-slash to launch his own counterattack. He was able to score a couple hits before Link shifted his sword to a one hand grip and brought out his shield and began deflecting the attacks.

The two traded blows for a few seconds, neither of them gaining a clear advantage over the other. A few seconds later and they jumped away from each other, Ranma standing on top of one pillar and the Hero of Time on another. However, the martial artist barely had any time to recover before Link had pulled something round and black from his stuff space and threw it at his pillar.

Having fought Mousse on several different occasions, Ranma could tell with reasonable certainty that black round things tended to explode when thrown so he leapt off his pillar to the ground, only to have to dodge another arrow which had been released as soon as the bomb had been thrown. He dodged that just in time for the boomerang to hit him in the face, sending him staggering back.

 _This guys timing is incredible!_ Thought Ranma as he started zigzagging towards Link's pillar, mindful of any other projectiles he tossed out, _but he seems to only use four different weapons._

With a graceful double jump, Ranma kicked Link off the pillar. He had deflected it with his shield but the force behind the blow was enough to knock him off anyways. Touching off the pillar, Ranma shot towards Link in midair, drawing on the Saotome Mid-Air Combat techniques to hit Link three times before kicking him to the ground.

Utilizing his double jump again, Ranma soared backwards, firing off a ki blast where Link had fallen. It didn't connect however. With one hand, Link pushed off the ground into the air, drawing his bow in mid motion. Arrows came flying out of the dust cloud generated by the ki blast, one catching him in the shoulder. Quickly he retreated behind the pillar.

Taking a quick glance at his bracer, the martial artist gaped in surprise. They were both at exactly 44 damage. Link had traded him blow for blow in the space of twenty five seconds.

 _Time to pour on the speed then,_ said Ranma mentally as he prepared to dash out into the confrontation. However, the decision was made pre-maturely as another bomb began rolling towards him. Smoothly, Ranma back flipped onto the pillar and launched himself back first at the Hero of Time.

Predicting his moves correctly, Ranma turned in midair just right to dodge the projectiles coming at him. Now facing him, the martial artist saw that he had already drawn his shield and sword, preparing for the inevitable melee that was about to happen. He was coming at him too fast for him to throw any more projectiles now.

Link wasn't very fast; he'd be the first to admit it. When fighting he tended to rely on his tools and timing to make up for it. However, when it came down to a close combat fight the sword at his side wasn't there for decoration.

Ranma on the other hand was incredibly fast, to the point of getting a speeding ticket every time he ran to school (if they could ever catch him that is). He didn't carry weapons because they would only slow him down.

The two forces met with a bang. Expecting a shield block against his initial attack, Ranma instead kicked off the air right before he would have impacted and jumped to Link's back instead.

Counting on a quick retaliation; as soon as he hit the ground Ranma dropped into the splits and felt the air pass over his head from the counterattack. With quick efficiency Ranma karate chopped Link in the leg, staggering him. Pushing off the ground with both hands Ranma proceeded to unleash a double foot kick into his face.

The attack didn't stagger Link as much as he would have hoped. Reaching behind his back, Link withdrew a tool he hadn't seen yet. It was colored blue with a small wicked looking claw at the end of it.

With a small pop the claw rapidly extended towards him like one of Mousse's chains. Unfortunately he wasn't in a very good position to dodge it and the claw caught on the material of his shirt. Before Ranma could even react, the chain attached began to retract, pulling him towards Link.

He wasn't caught long though. As soon as he was in range, Link kicked him off the chain into a wall. Moving quickly, Link was able to score another hit with his bow before Ranma peeled himself off the wall. He had just notched a second arrow when Ranma seemingly disappeared, moving at a speed that belied his previous pace.

Slightly panicked, Link released the arrow where he thought Ranma was going to be but before it had even left the string Ranma was there, pushing his bow slightly to make the arrow fly a mere inch past his face. Before he could even draw his shield Ranma had sent him flying towards the edge.

Flipping over in midair, Link used his second jump to keep moving backwards while still firing arrows at Ranma's rapidly approaching blur. Three arrows later and he had landed on the largest pillar in the arena, located right near the edge of death.

Hyrule Temple was a rather big place. The distance Ranma had to cover was great enough for Link to land on the pillar before the martial artist could get there. Instead of jumping up to meet him though, the new Smash Brother rammed his shoulder into the pillar, shattering it.

Momentarily surprised, Link reacted quickly enough to jump off the pillar right next to the edge, drawing his boomerang and sword simultaneously. He predicted that he would only be able to get one throw off before having to engage in melee again.

Words could not describe how shocked he was when instead of rushing him like he expected, Ranma grabbed the falling pillar and, turning in a circle to gain momentum, flung the entire pillar at him. His boomerang was uselessly batted aside and his sword flew from his hand, making him temporarily incapable of performing his triple jump.

 _It doesn't really matter though,_ thought Link as he saw the death zone on the side of the level fast approaching.

"GAME!"

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"That…was intense," said Link as he tumbled out of the transporter.

Ranma nodded. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but Link had coxed some serious speed out of him while only moving at about half the speed he was. If Link had been up to his level in speed then it probably would have been very different fight.

Wiping the sweat away from his brow, Ranma caught his breath, "Why are these matches so tiring?"

"The way this fighting system works automatically brings you to full power for the duration of the match and now your body is feeling the after effects. Unless you get to 100 damage in the course of a match you won't feel much fatigue. It's the best way for two fighters to push each other to their limits."

Ranma mulled that over in his head. Basically what Link was saying was that the fighting program coerced his body into fighting at full power no matter how tired he really was. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure what to think of that.

"Isn't that a little…dangerous?"

"It can be," Link admitted, "Casual matches are usually stock one. In the official league matches the standard is stock two. In tournament level matches, however, the stock rises to three. Any more than that is pretty much guaranteed to put you out for the day. The most anyone was able to go for was seven and he had to have a day and a half bed rest afterwards."

"Who managed that?"

Link smirked, "Mewtwo, the guy you're fighting tomorrow."

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"So is it real?" asked Ranma as he was walking back to their room.

"Huh?"

"Is the fighting…real? I mean, it felt real but we're only fighting in a virtual world aren't we?"

Link thought for a minute, "Take a look at your arm Ranma."

Ranma pulled up the sleeve of his shirt to see a small bruise forming where Link had connected with his sword.

"It's not so much a virtual world than a different world. Everything you do in there you'll feel out here and vice versa. The only reason why it's called a virtual world in the first place is because it was programmed outside of the divine realms."

"Um…so that means its real then?" asked Ranma slightly confused.

Link chuckled realizing that his explanation was a bit more than Ranma was looking for, "Yeah, its real."

"If you…die in a match would you die…for real?"

Link sighed, "Well, I suppose you would," seeing a shadow pass across Ranma's face he quickly amended, "but there are literally hundreds of safety features in place to prevent that from happening. These tournaments have been going on for five years now and the worst thing that's ever happened to someone was coming out of the transporter unconscious."

"Who did that happen to?"

"You remember that seven stock match Mewtwo had that put him in bed for a day and a half afterwards?" Ranma nodded, "Well his opponent Marth didn't get off so lucky."

"Marth? You mean that guy you lost to?"

"That's the one. Marth had been here since the arena's opening along with Mewtwo. He's quite possibly one of the best swordsmen in the world. He was the top fighter here for nearly three years, but then Mewtwo decided to participate in the annual three stock tournament. It was surprising because even though he was the first one at the arena, he'd never competed."

"So what happened?"

"Well, Mewtwo and Marth fought their way through every other competitor and met in the final match. And when they fought on final destination, Mewtwo skunked him."

"Skunked?"

"He beat him without losing a single life. As you can probably guess it was a bit humiliating for him. As soon as he had rested enough he re-challenged Mewtwo to a championship match at seven lives."

Link swiped his card and opened the door to their room. Ranma was so engrossed in their conversation he hadn't even realized where they were. Still talking, Link started to un-equip all of his weapons, placing them carefully in a small closet at the foot of his bed.

"In the end, Marth lost, albeit narrowly. Even though Mewtwo hardly acknowledges it, Marth still holds a grudge against him and considers him his rival."

 _And that doesn't remind me of someone I know,_ thought Ranma sarcastically, "So how many weapons do you carry with you anyways?" he asked changing the subject.

"I carry five into the arena," explained Link stepping away from his closet to reveal his bow, boomerang, sword, the strange grapple mechanism, and a brown bag with a picture of a bomb on it, "but in my adventures I've managed to get quite a collection."

Opening the other side of the closet Ranma was fascinated by the sheer variety of tools he saw there. True, he had seen Mousse carry just as much weaponry as Link but his weapons held little variety comparatively.

Before Link shut the closet Ranma saw a slingshot, a gigantic two-handed sword, a harp, a small brass tube that looked like a gun, a blue colored boomerang, several differently colored flutes, a couple masks, and a gigantic metal hammer.

"I'll bet there's an interesting story behind those things. You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

Link laughed, "Maybe someday, like when we're both retired and have a year or two of downtime on our hands."

Ranma laughed along with Link, "I'll be sure to take you up on that, provided we make it to retirement with our problems following us."

Link finally hung his shield and closed the closet door. With his green hat still on, he flopped down onto the bed, "You know Ranma, with you backing us up, I really think we can going to win this tournament."

"Naturally," said Ranma confidently.

"I wonder if you'll still be that cocky after you fight Mewtwo tomorrow." Said Link jokingly.

"Please, I define cocky," returned Ranma humorously.

"True," remarked Link thoughtfully, "If only your fighting skills were as big as your ego then we'd have this tournament in the bag no problem."

"If that was the case then I'd only need half my ego to win." Retorted Ranma

Many people can look back on their lives and remember a time when they sat down and had a good conversation with a friend. Ranma was not one of those many people and found himself liking the new feeling. As he slowly let sleep come to him, Ranma convinced himself that it was well worth giving up a wish for Link's friendship. It was probably better than anything the wish could have brought him anyways.

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A/N: Another complete revamp. This story is going to follow the same path as the original but I'm trying to flesh it out a bit to set myself up for when I go beyond the Smash Arena. That isn't going to happen for awhile though.

I will try to respond to all of my reviews. They're the only thing I'm receiving for writing this and I like to acknowledge them.

And now for something completely different.

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-Omake-

Ranma stumbled out of the scanner, wincing as he felt the bruise on his shoulder, "I thought you said it wasn't real."

Link reached into his tunic, pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, "Your mind makes it real."

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-Omake- (By Samboke)

"So how many weapons do you carry with you anyways?" Ranma asked changing the subject.

"I carry five into the arena," explained Link stepping away from his closet to reveal his bow, boomerang, sword, the strange grapple mechanism, and a brown bag with a picture of a bomb on it, "but in my adventures I've managed to get quite a collection."

Ranma reaches into the chest and pulls out a small book with Zelda in a bikini on the cover. "What's this?"

Link snatches it away with a red face. "Nothing!"


	54. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 6

A/N: Keep sending in your questions if you have them

You probably want to kill me right now but if you do, this fic will take even longer to finish.

I can summarize my lengthy absence in four very powerful words. Super Smash Bros Brawl.

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Ranma's eyes snapped open at 5:59 AM on the dot, exactly ten seconds before his father would usually try and throw him out the window. Mentally, he prepared himself for a fight.

Ten seconds passed, and nothing happened. Then another ten seconds passed, and still nothing happened. After a few seconds Ranma realized why nothing was happening and mentally hit himself for acting stupid.

Glancing over to Link's bunk, Ranma saw the Hero of Time still soundly asleep. He briefly entertained the notion of waking him up for a spar but realized that it would make him remarkably similar to his father, and if Ranma had one goal in life (besides martial arts) it was to be as different from him as possible.

Looking down at himself, the newly initiated Smash Brother also realized that he was wearing the same clothes he wore the day before. While he didn't exactly mind re-wearing the same thing day in and day out, the two fights he had in the arena, and the one against the wire frames, had really taken a toll on them.

 _I guess I could get a workout there,_ thought Ranma remembering the Holo room. Kicking off the blankets, Ranma put his shoes on and walked out of the dorm room and into the hallway.

It only took him two seconds to remember that he needed a card to get anywhere in the building, but by then the dorm room door had already closed behind him.

 _Well crap. Now what?_ Quickly he considered his options. He could try breaking the door down but he didn't think it would go over very well with his employer. Not to mention the materials looked a lot sturdier than the average Nerima wall.

Briefly he tried pounding on Link's door but that only helped him figure out that Link was just as heavy a sleeper as he was. Walking to the end of the hall, Ranma was just about to try and force the door open, consequences be damned, when a voice stopped him.

"Going somewhere?"

The martial artist turned around and came face to face with blue eyes and blond hair. The girl carried herself like a fighter and had a Smash Brother ID badge pinned to her…….clothes, if you could call the skintight blue bodysuit she was wearing clothing. At her side there was a small holster that held a high tech looking gun.

Realizing that she had asked him a question Ranma tore his eyes away from the weapon and looked at her face, "Not really. I forgot I didn't have a keycard yet."

The girl walked in front of him and flashed her card to the door, which promptly opened. Ranma followed after her, "It's not surprising really," she said as she led him down one of the buildings many corridors, "they don't look like much but they're pretty high tech pieces of equipment."

Suddenly she stopped and turned around and extended her hand, "By the way, my names Sara Musaan. You must be Ranma Saotome, the new fighter here right?"

"Yeah that's me," said Ranma taking her hand and shaking it gently. She responded by giving his hand a squeeze that would have broken a normal mans fingers.

"I heard you get to fight Mewtwo today," said Sara offhandedly as she led him towards the mess hall.

"Well yeah, should be an interesting fight. He's got a decent aura."

Sara smirked, "Decent? Mewtwo has enough power to light a third world country for a couple days."

Ranma sighed, did everyone in this bloody arena feel that it was their sworn duty to tell him how powerful Mewtwo was? Just because someone had power didn't mean they knew how to use it. Something Ryoga and Saffron probably should have learned before messing with him.

Instead of saying that though, Ranma responded in typical fashion, "What's your point?"

Sara sighed, "I can't tell if that's overconfidence speaking or just plain recklessness."

Ranma was getting slightly annoyed now, "Hey, just because you may have gotten your ass kicked by this guy doesn't mean I should just roll over and let him pound on me alright? No one's invincible."

Sara shook her head, "Your sound a lot like Marth you know that?"

"Heh, with the way you guys act about him, I'm beginning to think he has the right idea. I don't care if he eats screws for breakfast, unless he weighs a couple tons then he'll fly out of the arena just like anyone else."

" _Actually I prefer nails to screws,"_ Ranma nearly jumped at the sudden voice in his head, _"And I only weigh about half a ton really."_

The martial artist smirked as he turned to face Mewtwo, "I'll be sure to have a magnet ready then. Should have an interesting effect."

Mewtwo laughed softly, a rather interesting effect when combined with his telepathy, _"And what are you doing up so early in the morning_ …" Ranma saw Mewtwo wince suddenly, _"…Sara?"_ he finished after a moments hesitation.

"I was heading to the Holo room for my morning workout when I found him locked outside his dorm without a keycard."

" _Something I was hoping to fix before he went out wandering around alone,"_ said Mewtwo holding up his hand. Floating directly in front of it was a new keycard with Ranma's male face imprinted on it.

The martial artist raised an eyebrow, "You use your psychic powers for everything?"

" _Almost everything,"_ admitted Mewtwo, _"My creators didn't exactly design my body with convenience in mind."_

Ranma nodded as he took the keycard out of the air. Mewtwo's hands only had three fingers each, and his feet, which consisted of two protrusions resembling toes, probably weren't the easiest things in the world to walk on.

" _Master Hand has given you leave to visit the town today to replace your clothes."_ He continued gesturing to the torn up shirt and pants full of cuts and holes, _"Unless you want to be walking around in your boxers after our fights over."_

"Oh I have a feeling that no matter how this battle goes you're not going to be wearing anything by the end of it." He shot back.

" _Very true human,"_ said Mewtwo chuckling again, _"Sara, since Link probably won't be waking up until noon, I'm giving you leave to show him around town. Make sure to have him back by lunch."_

Mewtwo turned around and floated off in the opposite direction while Sara continued leading him towards the mess hall. While they walked, Ranma took the opportunity to look over his keycard.

The thing looked very hi-tech at a glance. Instead of a plastic card, the thing had a metal frame with a digital readout. A display showed his face and some green letters to the right of the display showed various information about him including his age, height, and weight. After a couple seconds the display shifted to show his female face with the same statistics, albeit for his girl side.

"Neat little thing," he commented offhandedly as Sara opened the final door leading to the breakfast hall. The room had, once again, transformed for the occasion. Instead of the luxurious high class environment he had attended last night, long rectangular tables had been set out cafeteria style. Instead of waiters, there was a large buffet which contained various foods ranging from cereal to rice with a stack of trays at both ends.

The cafeteria itself was quite empty. Besides him and Sara, the only other person there was a familiar tall figure with blue hair and a sword strapped to his waist. Loading up his plate, Ranma walked over and casually took a seat across from him.

"Good morning Ranma," said the swordsman looking up from his meal.

"Good morning uh…" Ranma paused for a second. Even though he had helped Link and Samus drag him to a bed, he had never actually gotten his name at the time.

"Marth," he provided.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. So this was Mewtwo's self proclaimed arch rival huh? "Good morning Marth," he finished.

"I heard that you are to cross blades with Mewtwo today," he said casually.

Ranma twitched, did every single person in this joint know about that fight? "Am I wearing a sign or something?" he asked bitterly.

"No," Marth pointed over towards the door, "that proclamation would be there."

The martial artist turned around to where Marth was pointing to see a bright neon sign with the words **"FINAL LEAUGE MATCHUP: MEWTWO VS. RANMA"** in colorful flashing letters.

"Normally I would have been the one to do battle with him but since his victory in the league is already assured, I agreed to surrender the fight to you."

"Um…thanks…I think."

The blue haired swordsman looked up as Sara sat down next to him, "Good morning…"

"Sara." She interrupted.

Ranma noticed Marth discreetly raise an eyebrow, "Good morning then, Sara."

"So you actually gave up a fight with Mewtwo so the new guy could take him on? Rather thoughtful of you." She said idly, picking at her food.

"My nemesis will be there regardless of whom he fights. I'm not one to let petty rivalries stop a newcomer from getting some much needed experience. I will always have another opportunity."

Ranma twitched. The guy was sounding a little too much like Kuno for his liking. Honed instincts from having to put up with the sword wielding idiot were telling him to punch the guy on principle, "Hey uh…Marth, why are you talking like that?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno, all formal like."

"Formal like?" he asked puzzled, "I'm not quite sure what it is you're attempting to say."

Sara interrupted before Ranma could speak again, "Um…Ranma? Marth comes from a rather ancient time. Japanese language hadn't evolved to the casual level it has today."

"Oh," said Ranma awkwardly. Clearing his throat Ranma addressed Marth in his best Kuno impression, "My apologies, I meant no offense. Your style of speaking merely brought to memory a person who I would have rather forgotten."

Marth smiled, "It is of no consequence. I wish you the greatest of fortune in your battle today." Still smiling, the swordsman picked up his tray and walked towards the cafeteria door. As he passed the martial artist, he leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Be wary of your foes eyes, and don't ever take hold of his tail." Placing his tray in the washing area, Marth exited the room.

Sara had a sweatdrop on her head, "Where did you learn to talk like that?"

Ranma shrugged, "Meh, one of my old rivals back where I came from fancied himself a warring states era samurai and used that language to sound high and mighty all the time. Some of his language must have rubbed off on me since I had to kick his face in every day."

"Was he any good?"

"Nah, he just had inhuman levels of endurance from getting the crap beaten out of him all the time. So where are you from Sara?" He wasn't really interested but it seemed to be the best way to get the topic of conversation away from his home world.

"Galactic Federation colony world K-2L, one of the outer systems." She responded.

Ranma scratched his head. That sounded like a planet out of some sci-fi movie, "What did you use to do before you came here?"

"Bounty hunting. I left my home-world around the age of ten after a space pirate attack destroyed the orphanage where I was staying at. I joined the Galactic Federation and after eight years I started bounty hunting."

"Sounds dangerous," said Ranma idly while polishing off the last of his food.

"I'm a dangerous girl," said Sara teasingly, but Ranma could feel the steel behind them.

"I'll be careful then," said Ranma nonchalant. Its not as if he didn't believe her but it was kind of hard to find her intimidating after putting up with true insanity such as Kodachi (and occasionally Akane) who kept trouble as a pet and fed it on a daily basis.

Unfortunately for Ranma, Sara took his nonchalant-ness as sarcasm, "What you don't believe me?" Her voice was still teasing but the Smash Brother could feel the implied challenge behind them.

"No I believe you," said Ranma honestly.

Sara still looked skeptical but decided to let it slide, much to Ranma's relief. They finished their meals quietly (Ranma being able to finish his seconds before Sara could start her firsts) and made their way to the elevator, the bounty hunter in the lead.

A short ride later and the two fighters stepped out onto a brightly colored plaza, "Delflino Plaza," said Sara simply.

The best term Ranma could think of to describe it was colorful. Were he more versed in the language arts, he probably would have thought that word was understatement.

From the minute he walked out of the lobby, bright colors assaulted his vision. Instead of the usual bleak, grey, and darker colors he was used to seeing on houses, there were a myriad of colors ranging from bright reds and blues to pinks and even some blindingly bright yellows.

The buildings also came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Between two western style houses sat a mushroom shaped house painted red with white spots. Next to a Japanese style house stood an incredibly tall rainbow colored tower just shy of being a sky scraper.

Despite how tall some of the buildings were though, none of them even came close to reaching the size of the Smash Brother building, which seemed to go on forever. It was impossible to tell just how tall it actually was since the top went beyond the cloud cover.

Among the streets, a few people were milling about from one shop to the next. Toadstools and koopas seemed to make up a majority of the crowd but here and there Ranma saw some human faces as well.

"Here we are," she said. Ranma returned his attention to his immediate surroundings to see that while he had been observing his surroundings he had unconsciously followed Sara to a pitch black building with a sign that said, "All Occasions." The window displays in front depicted a couple human mannequins, a couple of koopa figures, and a child form half the size of the adult.

The clothes on the mannequins were the things that really interested Ranma though. The two humans were dressed in bodysuits similar to what Sara was wearing. The koopas were wearing black spiked shells and sunglasses, and the child figure was dressed in clothes similar to Link's garb.

"See something you like?" asked Sara coming to stand beside him, "I think these suits look good don't you?"

"Maybe on you," said Ranma quickly not trusting himself to look at her. Personally, he would rather have just kept his regular clothes but since his other two dozen duplicate outfits were still at the Tendo Dojo…

In a completely unrelated story, it happened at that moment that a lakitu was hovering over their exact location at the moment with a cloud that had absorbed too much water.

Sara sweatdropped as Ranma was suddenly soaked by a small downpour in a radius small enough that only he…or rather she…got wet. To his, or her, credit, Ranma didn't even flinch as the change took place.

"So um…do we need to shop for your girl side as well?"

"No way in hell," she said quickly, startling her, "Girls can wear guy clothes just fine. It don't work the other way around."

Sara looked confused, so Ranma explained it to her with his, now her, usual tact, "Wearing panties as a guy hurts like hell, especially when my girl side's about a size smaller than my male size."

That was more information than she needed to know. Blushing softly, Sara opted not to say anything and quickly pulled Ranma into the store.

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"So what happens when you change in the middle of a fight?" asked Sara curiously as she led him through the racks of clothing.

"I always wore sweatpants and tucked my shirt in so it didn't really bother me," she explained, "Still a pain in the ass having so much "up there" when I'm trying to fight. Wearing a bra as a guy just ain't practical though."

'Her speech may be blunt but her logic is flawless,' thought Sara amusedly.

"Alright, pick something out then."

Immediately, Ranma grabbed three pairs of pants and red Chinese shirts off the rack next to him, almost identical to the torn up ones he was wearing now. Sara sighed as her choice of dress.

"You know, you could try to mix it up a bit," she suggested, "This is probably one of the biggest clothing stores in the universe."

"Why?" asked Ranma puzzled, "What's wrong with these clothes?"

"Nothings wrong with them. You should just try and put some variety in your wardrobe."

"Why? I'm not trying to look good; I just need something I can fight in."

"Then if you find something that looks good that you can fight in, will you wear it?"

"Um…I guess so… but why is that important anyways?"

"Because it is," she said with an air of finality, "And if you ask me why one more time I'm going to tazer you." She finished by indicating the sidearm somehow attached to her blue bodysuit.

Ranma rolled her eyes, "Please, don't try to threaten me. You're too cute to look intimidating."

The sidearm was out in a flash. Faster than the human eye could track, Ranma's hand shot forward and caught her wrist halfway to her body. Undeterred, Sara quickly dropped the weapon to her left hand and came at her again.

Her left hand was quickly caught like her right hand, the size of the girl belying the strength of her grip.

Sara was prepared though. Using her upper body strength, Sara twisted them both around, the momentum freeing her from the other girl's grasp. Pressing a hidden switch, the gun quickly shifted its form into a longer metal cylinder.

Fortunately for Ranma, she had been predicting a follow up attack after the spin maneuver and even though she was surprised, she was still in the perfect position to dodge the yellow whip of energy that flew over her head.

Bending backwards until her hands touched the ground, Ranma pushed hard and sailed backwards through the air, landing several feet away from Sara. Said Bounty Hunter still had her energy saber out and was looking at him with an amused smirk.

"Correction," said the redhead cheekily, "Cute and violent."

"I also happen to have better taste in clothes," retorted Sara putting the…thing…back in its holster. She wasn't an expert on the subject but was fairly certain that something that could transform into a sword like that didn't really qualify as a gun, "Now come on, we're going to get you some real clothes."

Ranma sighed but followed anyways, discreetly picking up the discarded Chinese style shirts on the floor.

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One hour later, Sara and Ranma exited the story, the later wearing a brand new red Chinese shirt and black sweatpants. Despite Sara's best efforts, the pigtailed girl had managed to leave the shop with only one bag containing several identical outfits consisting of the ever popular red shirt and black pants combo.

It was then, that Ranma felt it.

A slight twinge on the edge of her consciousness, a small disturbance on the brink of her senses. Normally she wouldn't have felt it, but since she had yet to do a morning workout, her body was still wound up with energy waiting to be released.

Cautiously, Ranma reached out with her ki and brushed against the energy she was sensing. Immediately, the foreign energy flared, strengthening two fold against her probe.

A challenge.

Sara paused as Ranma suddenly stopped walking. Her eyes were closed as if in meditation and while she wasn't a very accomplished aura reader, she could tell the red head was searching for something.

"Um…Ran-," She began

"Sara," Ranma's eyes snapped open almost startling the blonde. Before she had a chance to reprimand, the bounty hunter found herself holding the bag of clothes, "Hold on to that for a second."

And with that, she was gone.

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There comes a time in a martial artists training when they start to develop the legendary sixth sense, or danger sense as its known in most circles.

However, this is inaccurate. The sixth sense isn't so much a danger sense as an aura sense. Each and every person in the world gives off an aura of some kind and martial artists who train tirelessly for years on end can begin to sense these auras. Therefore, when someone senses an aura moving at them very fast, its practically second nature to them to move out the way. Thus it was titled the legendary danger sense.

Unfortunately, this is as far as any non-martial artist can understand it.

His mystery opponents aura called to him, challenged him, and Ranma Saotome never backed down from a challenge.

All of his senses were focused on the aura as he ran across the rooftops of Delfino Plaza. Gradually the buildings thinned and disappeared, giving way to trees and forestry. The sounds also began to fade, the hustle and bustle of the town turning into the sounds of wildlife.

Approximately five minutes after he had begun running, he stopped, standing in the middle of a clearing of trees. Looking up, the martial artist saw his opponent.

It was balanced perfectly on one leg at the very top of the tallest tree in the clearing. Around the clearing, Ranma could sense the tightly focused dark blue aura the…creature was emitting.

An occurrence that Ranma was finding less and less odd the more he saw, the dog like creature at the top of the tree was not human. He was covered in blue fur with black spots, two small ears adorned the top of his head, and a small tail swayed gently behind him.

No matter how he looked though, he was still a fighter. Without a second thought, Ranma jumped up a tree parallel to his and closed his eyes, imitating the blue creatures pose and exercise. Their two auras filled the entire clearing, silently battling one another for dominance.

It was impossible to tell just how long they stood there, their energies silently battling one another, but Ranma was suddenly broken from his concentration by a somewhat loud beeping sound. Quickly he pinpointed the sound to the Brawl Bracer on his right arm.

LUCARIO HAS CHALLENGED YOU TO A 100 LIFE STAMINA MATCH

Below that were the words ACCEPT and DECLINE.

Looking up, Ranma saw that Lucario's eyes were open and his body was relaxed into a battle stance. Smirking, Ranma punched the accept button.

"READY…"

Ranma almost jumped when the voice came out of nowhere, but he quickly recognized it as the announcer's voice that had precluded his matches with Sara and Link. His eyes were locked with Lucario's now, both of their bodies were tensing, preparing for the voice to say the next word.

"…FIGHT!"

Two blurs immediately shot off the branches, meeting halfway in the air, exchanging blows at a rapid pace. Ranma was slightly taller than Lucario but the dog like creature was using his aura to supplement his attacks. Every time he punched or kicked, dark blue energy extended from his hand, leaving a trail of his aura in its wake.

Using the double jump, both fighters kicked off the air to return to their trees before jumping towards each other again. It was an incredibly fast paced battle with virtually no pause in between landing on a tree and jumping back into the fray.

One ill timed move, barely even a second off its mark, gave Ranma all the advantage he needed. Grabbing a hold of the pokemon's outstretched leg, the smash brother positioned Lucario beneath his shoulder and let gravity take over.

SMASH!

The crash from their twenty foot decent from the air left a spider web of cracks in the ground.

Respectfully, Ranma jumped back and waited for his opponent to recover. According to the damage counters, the fall and air battle had taken Lucario down to 40 life while he was at a comfortable 60 life.

Now was not the time to get comfortable though. Lucario had already risen, his battle stance on the ground greatly contrasting his one in the air. Mentally preparing himself, Ranma charged, intent on finishing off the last of his life points.

It was incredibly hard to describe what happened next. Practically half a second before Ranma attacked, the air seemed to bend inward around the pokemon, his form blurring slightly. Right before his fist would have connected, Lucario's form split into two afterimages before disappearing.

The martial artist only had time to blink as the dog person's aura winked out of existence. He blinked again and suddenly he felt his opponent's aura explode behind him. The kick impacted his side, launching him into the air. The follow up kick slammed him into a tree.

Quickly coming to his senses, Ranma was able to dodge the final attack that split the tree in half. Before he could recover from his final attack, Ranma kicked him away, gaining some breathing room.

To anyone else, charging after someone who had just used a move that ate away half your life probably would have been foolish. To a martial artist like Saotome however, the only way to counter a move like that was to experience it first hand, and he was going to do just that.

Like before, the air seemed to bend before Lucario's aura winked out of existence before reappearing behind him and landing a kick on him. This time though, he was able to stop the follow up, giving as much damage as he had taken. The result left them both at twenty life.

In a final show of determination, Ranma once again charged Lucario, for all intents and purposes ready to finish the fight one way or another. Compressing the air around him, the pokemon readied his extreme-speed attack once again right before the martial artist made contact.

Too late, he realized, was that his all out attack was really a feint. Instead of appearing behind the martial artist, he appeared one foot to the left of him.

The last thing he saw before he was clotheslined into oblivion was Ranma's smirk of triumph.

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Omake -Samboke-

Glancing over to Link's bunk, Ranma saw the Hero of Time still soundly asleep. He briefly entertained the notion of waking him up for a spar, but he started to hear Link mumble something in his sleep.

"No….come back…here….don't wanna to be a Deku scrub…mumble mumble"

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Thanks to my pre-readers, Samboke and JSB. To all those that e-mailed me, I apologize. When I went to send the chapter out to everyone who requested to pre-read, the entirety of fanfiction dot net was down and I couldn't get the e-mail addresses.

Once again, I'll try my best to respond to all the reviews that I get.


	55. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Nintendo. Yeah, that about sums it up nicely.

* * *

"So tell me," began Sara, arms crossed under her breasts. The red-haired Ranma had just reappeared with an unconscious Lucario slung over her shoulder. "Do you normally run off at random to fight people to intense sparring matches or are you just excited?"

Ranma seriously thought about the question for a bit. "Meh. This is pretty much the norm for everywhere I go."

"You know, I don't think sarcasm would get through to you if I used a hammer," said Sara, shaking her head.

Ranma blinked. "Why would you need to use a hammer?"

"Never mind. We better get going if you're going to be in time for your fight with Mewtwo." Ranma nodded and began trailing behind the bounty hunter.

Silently, Ranma marveled at the clothes she now wore. Despite being in battle less than five minutes ago, there wasn't a smudge or tear on them.

Clothes in the Smash universe were made with enhanced carbon fibers, made to hold up when exposed to fire, water, ice, PK power, explosives, electricity, ki, chi, chakra, life energy, youkai, spiritual energy, light energy, dark energy, bad karma, blunt trauma, blunt trauma, foot stains, rug burns, negligent washing cycles, and most importantly, Smash battles.

At the same time though, the clothes didn't actually 'protect' the wearer from anything.

"So how long is this guy gonna stay asleep?" asked Ranma, shifting her burden to a more comfortable position.

"Around five to ten minutes," responded Sara. "Whenever someone defeats you in free combat outside of an official Smash arena, the computer linked to your bracers forces you into unconsciousness so you don't end up hurting yourself. You were only fighting at a hundred life though, so he should be waking up-"

" _You can put me down now, human."_

For the second time that day, Ranma had to resist the urge to jump at the voice in her head.

"Damn. How many people know telepathy around here?"

The pigtailed girl quickly set the dog-like being down. Lucario stretched a couple of times before turning to face Ranma.

" _It would seem as though Master Hand has chosen well yet again. If you fight like that, you may just be able to take Mewtwo down one life before he defeats you."_

"Yeah yeah, keep talking, or telepathy...ing, or whatever you call it. I'll be fighting him soon enough." Stopping at a random mushroom shaped kiosk, Ranma procured a glass of hot water and promptly dumped it over her head, oblivious to Lucario's stare. Amazingly, the water seemed to flow around the clothes, not being absorbed at all.

" _A water based evolution,"_ spoke Lucario privately to Sara. _"Fascinating. You certainly keep some interesting companions Samus."_

"Sara," she corrected silently. "Reconnaissance on the new fighter."

" _Again? Must you do this with every fighter that comes through here?"_

"It's what I do," she said simply. "Besides, it's completely worth the look on people's faces when my suit comes off mid-match."

" _I tended to be more surprised by the giant laser beam of death headed towards me, but perhaps that's just my opinion."_

 __

* * *

One short after-battle snack later, and everyone had gathered in the main viewing room, ready to watch the match between the Smash veteran and the newcomer. Before, Ranma had only seen about ten different people casually watching the match between him and Samus. Now, there were over fifty people in the room, including the cooks and the item factory workers. Above the movie sized viewing screen was a banner stating "FINAL LEAUGE MATCHUP: MEWTWO VS RANMA"

"Looks like I've drawn a crowd," said Ranma casually.

"This is a pretty exclusive club," said Samus from his left. "Any newcomer is going to generate a lot of interest. People have to start developing strategies to fight against you after all. Besides, everyone would like to see Mewtwo take a fall, even if it is unlikely," she added with a smirk.

Ranma decided not to respond. The only way these people would be convinced of his ability was if he won. Leaving Sara on the side lines, Ranma climbed the stage from the left while Mewtwo hovered in on the right, entering into a staredown as cheers sounded from the audience. An animation of their silhouettes appeared on the screen street fighter style, complete with a lightning sound effect.

Slowly, the scanner pods rose up from trapdoors in the stage, a small amount of fog rising with them. With a hiss, they opened, awaiting the two fighters.

"Kind of dramatic isn't it?" asked Ranma conversationally as he approached Mewtwo.

" _Master Hand is a professional entertainer. Just remember to smile, you're on camera after all."_ Ranma could hear the slightly mocking tone in his head.

"Oh like you ever smile," Ranma shot back.

" _Touche human. Touche."_

Stepping into the scanner, Ranma closed his eyes.

TRANSFER RANMA. TRANSFER MEWTWO.

The door slid shut.

SCANNER RANMA. SCANNER MEWTWO.

The light displays raced across the walls of the machine.

VIRTUALIZATION.

* * *

From the time when a Smash fighter was virtualized to the time where the fight actually began, there was a mere three seconds in which the fighters had time to assess their position, the positions of their enemies, and the type of environment they were fighting in.

Plenty of time for someone like Ranma.

The setting reminded him of the Hyrule temple stage he had fought Link on yesterday. The air seemed cleaner, the forests in the background less tame and more invasive, and the water surrounding them a lighter shade of blue. The arena seemed to be centered around a small dome shaped building with a large pirate hook at the top, while a few rafts floated around them. He himself seemed to be standing on a giant...rock turtle with a palm tree sticking out of it. Huh. Well that was interesting.

READY...

Unfortunately, the casual defiance of the laws of nature would have to wait for a bit. He had a fight to win. Scanning over the battleground one last time, Ranma spotted his opponent materializing on the platform in front of the building. Already, his mind was planning the shortest route to him.

...FIGHT!

Like a cheetah after its prey, Ranma kicked off the palm tree behind him, shooting himself forward. Mewtwo almost seemed surprised with his reckless charge, but swiftly glided out of the way of his projected landing point. What he didn't count on, was for Ranma to kick off of the building and then the floating raft in quick succession, changing his trajectory from a frontal attack to a side one. It landed solidly in Mewtwo's side, sending him staggering back a few steps.

The martial artist didn't let up, following up with a series of punches and kicks. These were a bit less effective as the element of surprise was gone now, but Mewtwo was well up to forty damage before he established his guard properly.

He had expected it after seeing Mewtwo's feats of psychic abilities earlier that day, but it was till disorienting to have his blows deflected by seemingly invisible walls of energy. Mewtwo's hands were glowing purple now as he slowly started pushing Ranma off the offensive.

The pokemon's eyes suddenly flashed red as one of Ranma's punches went a little too far left. Mewtwo spun, letting the fist skim by his head, and letting his tail smack into Ranma's face, causing him to flinch unexpectedly. Thrusting his hand into Ranma's solar plexus, he unleashed a burst of psychic power, sending shocks all throughout his body. Before he could recover from the electric like pain, Mewtwo had grabbed onto his shirt and threw him into the air, sending several small shadow balls after him.

Ranma wasn't an Anything Goes practitioner for nothing though. He recovered almost instantly, twisting wildly to dodge the the energy blasts before landing safely on the ground, several feet away. He ran forward again, albeit more cautiously this time, while his thoughts went light speed.

 _'He's slower than me, that much is certain, but for some reason, I can't get an attack in.'_ Experimentally, he threw a feint, followed up by a lightning quick jab, only for Mewtwo to completely ignore the feint in favor of blocking the punch. _'He's not falling for any feints or distractions. He's only blocking what might actually hit him. It's almost like he's psychic or some-"_ His thought process ground to a halt as he processed that last thought once again. _'Oh. Right. Well I feel stupid.'_

And he paid for his stupidity with a psychic blast to the chest, as Mewtwo ducked under a roundhouse. The attack lifted him off his feet a bit, sending him to land on the turtle where he had started the match. _'I'm telegraphing my thoughts,'_ thought Ranma sourly. _'He's probably picking up on them like I do with someone telegraphing their moves.'_

With that revelation, Ranma began to clear his mind, letting his thoughts leave him and allowing his battle instinct to take over and purely dictate his actions. When he clashed with Mewtwo again, it was much closer than before. He still couldn't seem to land a hit, but neither could Mewtwo. It seemed to be a stalemate, until Mewtwo suddenly vanished from sight in a flash of light.

Ranma blinked, his mind trying to catch up with what he just saw.

 _'Above!'_ His instincts were a second too late though, as Mewtwo's tail impacted with his head, dropping him to one knee. The follow up psychic blast hit him square in the face, sending him flying off the stage. Recovering as best he could, Ranma used the double-jump to stabilize himself on one of the floating rafts

 _'Okay, so he can teleport,'_ thought Ranma, taking a breath as he recovered from the blow to his face. Mewtwo hadn't followed up the attack, merely waiting on the main platform, his arms crossed, tail swaying slightly behind him, challenging the martial artist to come to him.

"Oh don't worry, I'll knock you off stage soon enough," he promised while forming a strategy in his mind. It was shaky, but if Mewtwo really was seeing his thoughts, it just might work.

Jumping onto the platform, Ranma clenched his left hand into a fist, envisioning its attack path, it's impact on Mewtwo's head, and just how far the pokemon would fly once the fist connected. The fist flew true on its trajectory, Mewtwo already raising his hand to block, when all of a sudden Ranma's right fist blindsided him, causing him to fly backwards.

Ranma didn't let up though and followed him into the air, delivering a midair roundhouse to the pokemon before it could recover. Charging up his confidence into his right hand, Ranma pounded the air with his double jump, lining up the perfect overhand throw.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!" BOOM!

The blast was weaker than normal, but it hit, sending Mewtwo spiraling backwards towards the water. But before he actually touched, his body seemed to lift itself into the air in a graceful back-flip. Probably his own version of the double jump. Ranma chose not to pursue, instead taking on Mewtwo's previous pose, his arms crossed in front of him, a challenge in his eyes.

" _Very good. You've figured out how to think of two different things at once in order to confuse my readings."_

Ranma's eyes narrowed, his senses wary. It was the first time Mewtwo had talked during the match.

" _But you're mental prowess are but an infant to mine."_ His telepathic voice oozed arrogance. _"I hope you can step up your game again human."_

There was a small flash and Mewtwo was suddenly standing back on the stage, a comfortable distance from Ranma. Holding out his three fingered appendage, Mewtwo made a 'come on' gesture. The martial artist took the invitation, forcing his mind to wander through advanced katas while he fought on his instinct.

It was met with a solid defensive wall. No matter what he thought about, Mewtwo seemed to always be able to center on his instinct, blocking his blows flawlessly and scoring several electrifying counterattacks. His damage percentage was climbing steadily towards the one-hundred level while Mewtwo's was staying around seventy.

" _You seem to be struggling again human."_ His telepathic voice was conversation like, despite fighting a battle at inhuman levels of speed. _"Allow me to give you a piece of advice."_ Mewtwo's hand blurred, catching one of Ranma's fists with psychic power. _"When you fight on instinct, you're still projecting some of your thoughts. Not of yourself, but of what your opponent might do. Such as which way they might counterattack, where they'll move. Your brain sends the data to your body, which reacts accordingly."_ Bringing his other hand forward, Mewtwo lifted Ranma off the ground with his power before slamming him back downwards. He bounced slightly, only to meet Mewtwo's tail which pushed him back down.

Rolling away from the beating, Ranma jumped to his feet, immediately getting back into a battle stance.

" _True mastery of your mind is nearly impossible,"_ continued the pokemon. _"You're talented, but I can pick up on even the smallest things you let slip."_

Ranma took a couple deep breaths to recover his wind while he processed what Mewtwo was saying. How was it even possible to fight without thinking? Logically, your brain had to send signals to your body in order for your body to move. Was Mewtwo saying that he could actually pick up on those signals his brain sent? It was frustrating just to think about.

" _Don't let your mind wander!"_ shouted Mewtwo's psychic voice suddenly. Ranma snapped back to attention at the mental command. _"You might not be able to win this round, but use it as a learning experience."_

Ranma huffed. "Geeze, what are you my sensei? I'm not out of this fight just yet! KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

Mewtwo's eyes seemed to widen a second before the attack came as he processed exactly what Ranma was about to do. He put up an admirable defense, but the sheer speed made sure that at least half of the punches went through his guard, scoring light hits on his abdomen and chest areas. Before the pokemon could fully process the move, Ranma ended it with a haymaker that sent Mewtwo flying off into the horizon.

Charging up another energy blast, Ranma pushed it beyond his usual limits. The thought of victory giving birth to a huge swell of confidence. "And don't....Come...BACK! MOKO TAKABISHA!" The blast was nearly double the size of his normal one. The pokemon tried teleporting in midair, but the distance wasn't far enough, and the blast clipped him, sending him into the stratosphere with a -ding-.

Ranma fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Needless to say, he wasn't going to be trying that again any time soon.

" _I suppose that is an alternative solution. Using attacks beyond my capability to dodge even when I know what is coming."_

The martial artist turned his eyes skyward to see Mewtwo descending from the angel platform, ready to fight with his second life. _"However, I can't imagine that you have much left in you after an attack like that."_

"Totally... worth it," he panted out, climbing to his feet. "Told you... I'd... knock you out of here at least once."

There was amusement laced in Mewtwo's telepathic voice now. _"Indeed you did. Now let's see if you can do it again."_

 __

* * *

Link winced as Ranma was sent off-screen by a particularly vicious psychic blast, barely even able to mount a defense against Mewtwo's renewed onslaught.

"My rival has stopped holding back," muttered a voice to Link's left. "This Ranma is indeed a worthy opponent."

The Hylian hero turned to see Marth sitting next to him, watching the screen thoughtfully. "You think so?" he asked seriously.

Marth nodded. "Without a doubt. Already Saotome has begun to utilize mental defenses and tactics that took me at least a week to master and implement. And he had not the benefit of foreknowledge like myself."

"Do you think he has a chance?" asked Link skeptically.

The swordsman shook his head. "Not after his last assault. My foe would not be taken by surprise in such a way a second time."

"He could have another trick up his sleeve," said Zelda encouragingly.

"Even so, his grasp on his mental defenses are slipping." Marth gestured to the second screen where Ranma was in the fifty percentage while Mewtwo had barely moved from fifteen. "My foe is predicting him with more accuracy now."

As if to prove his statement, Mewtwo countered one of Ranma's kicks with a tail sweep, even before the kick left the ground. Taking advantage of his foes imbalance, Mewtwo let loose a psychic blast at a forty-five degree angle, sending Ranma skidding along the ground.

"Damn. Still getting up even after that," said someone in front of them. "Tough son of a bitch. When I got hit with that blast I was feeling it for a week." The speaker was the starship pilot Wolf. Aptly named since he was essentially a werewolf. "I think that bastard Mewtwo is enjoying this."

It did seem as though Mewtwo was taking his time in finishing off the last of Ranma's lives. His damage counter still hadn't gone up much, just barely breaking the twenty percent mark while Ranma was nearing eighty.

"It is the last league match of the season, and the first showing of the newcomer," responded Zelda, frowning at Wolf's language. "Maybe he's just giving him a chance to show off his abilities and give the crowd a show."

"Yeah well Ranma ain't got a chance in hell unless he can pull a hurricane out of his ass or something."

* * *

The Hiryu Shoten Ha was dismissed as soon as it came to mind. He wasn't too sure how psychic energy worked and even less sure how it interacted with ki. The umisenken briefly came to mind, but he wasn't quite ready to reveal that trick just yet. As much as he wanted to win, beating Mewtwo here would accomplish little in the way of tournament standings and also wouldn't get him closer to the wish Master Hand had promised.

As much as he hated to admit it, it seemed like the best option would be to take the defeat in stride and prepare for the rematch. It would be something to look forward to at least. He'd hadn't had this much of a challenge since Cologne had decided to take him seriously.

Mewtwo was coming at him again, probably readying a complicated attack pattern based on his own martial arts style. Briefly, he contemplated just stepping off the edge and saving himself the pain, but quickly discarded the thought. Grinning like a maniac, Ranma met Mewtwo's charge head on, putting everything he had left into his assault.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

The punches batted uselessly against Mewtwo's shield, but Ranma didn't care. He just continued his stream of punches, waiting for either the pokemon's guard or his energy to fail first. After what seemed like ten seconds of high speed punches and blocks, Ranma finally started to slow down. One punch moved slow enough for Mewtwo to catch in his psychic grip, and then he was on his knees, his arm twisted behind his back. The psychic pressure Mewtwo was exerting was far stronger than anything Ryoga could manage.

Unable to struggle free Ranma simply sent a smirk in Mewtwo's direction. "I'm looking forward to the rematch."

Mewtwo placed his other hand on Ranma's shoulder, glowing purple with psychic energy.

" _So am I."_ Was the last thing he heard before a huge shock of psychic energy traveled through his system, causing him to black out as he slowly tumbled off the edge of the stage.

* * *

There was a brief feeling of deja-vu as Ranma awoke inside the scanner with voices outside it.

"Damn, Mewtwo really took him to town."

"You think he's still conscious after that last shock?"

Ranma shook his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs. There was sweat all over his body (although it wasn't soaking his clothes since they were sweat resistant) and his hair felt like it'd just gone through a summer shower. His body felt as if it had just undergone breaking point training and failed miserably.

" _Don't try to move too fast,"_ cautioned Mewtwo's telepathic voice from inside his head. _"Psychic power tends to leave a lingering effect for about an hour afterward."_

Ranma grimaced but didn't protest as the scanner opened and his body was caught by Link and Marth, each guy supporting an arm. Across from him, Mewtwo emerged unassisted from the scanner, albeit hovering a little slower than usual. Ranma directed his supporters towards the pokemon who was watching him with what could have been described as a curious look.

Taking a breath, Ranma shrugged off of his assistants and slowly offered a hand to Mewtwo. The pokemon looked at it for a second before producing his own hand, without the aid of his psychic powers. A cheer rose up from the crowd as the two Smash fighters shook hands while confetti streamed from the ceiling and the large monitor boldly proclaimed Mewtwo the winner of the league season.

" _Go get some rest,"_ advised the psychic pokemon as he released his hand. With a gentle psychic push, he sent him back into the arms of his supporters. _"Don't disappoint me when you challenge me again."_ And with that ultimatum, Mewtwo turned to Master Hand who was overseeing the awards ceremony.

"An excellent job," complimented Marth as he led Ranma away from the crowd. "There is change coming in the wind here. I can feel it."

Ranma nodded, focusing more on his footsteps than the conversation. "Does this ever get any easier or am I going to have to be carried back to my room every time?" he asked after a bit.

"Fighting Mewtwo never gets any easier," scoffed Link. "But your body will adjust to the scanner and the Smash battles over time."

"Oh... good. Wouldn't want to start paying escort fees."

Math chuckled as he flashed his card at one of the doors. "You definitely shall not be the last one carried to thy room after a bout with the psychic master, and you are definitely not the first."

"Makes me feel a little better I suppose," grumbled Ranma. A minute later they had reached his and Link's dorm.

"Make sure-" Marth began.

"-that he has food immediately when he wakes up. I know Marth, we've all been there." The swordsman simply inclined his head and walked away.

"So, what do you think of Mewtwo now?" asked Link jokingly as Ranma lay face down on his bed.

"Shtill ghunna beath him," he mumbled into his pillow.

Link rolled his eyes. "Man, where do you get all that confidence from? I have a triforce piece. What's your excuse?"

"Genetics," he mumbled again.

* * *

Despite being beaten a third of the way to death yesterday (he refused to say half. He wasn't a wuss after all), Ranma was up and about early the next morning, running through training exercises, now complimented with mental exercises as well. Clearing the mind and moving the body without thinking was proving to be a near impossible task but it wasn't in his nature to give up. He had accomplished it briefly in his fight. He knew it was possible. All he had to do now was figure out how it worked.

"Are you practicing your battle meditation?"

Ranma turned towards the sound of the voice to see Marth walking towards him, a wooden practice sword in hand.

"Battle meditation?" he questioned.

"To fight without thought and with peace of mind, where your body and your thoughts become one with each other." The blue-haired man smiled. "Sounds almost poetic doesn't it?"

"Uh... sure. I guess it could have a worse name."

Marth nodded. "So, how is your training coming along?"

Ranma grimaced. "Slowly. The entire concept is so damn obscure I barely know where to start."

"Indeed. It has been much the same for me. Most others have given up the pursuit as well, passing over the crown to Mewtwo. However, I have confidence that I shall triumph someday."

"Heh. You can take him once I'm finished," he challenged. "There's not gonna be a whole lot left after I'm done with him."

Marth raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do I sense a challenge in your words?"

"A challenge implies that there's a competition," said Ranma, mock-arrogantly. "I don't know if you're up to it or not."

Marth mock-saluted his new rival. "A challenge it is then. May the best man win."

* * *

"Less than three days and he's already pulled Marth out of his funk and knocked out one of Mewtwo's lives. I think he's going to fit in quite well here don't you think Samus?"

"He'll be fine," the blue-suited female responded, her legs relaxing on Master Hand's desk. "He's certainly got the drive to improve if nothing else. And an insatiable thirst for combat too."

"You speak as if that's a bad thing," chided Master Hand, amusement clear in his voice.

"Well, it's not bad, but it doesn't seem like he has any other drives," she mumbled. "He's got the exact same obsession Marth had, and is getting again apparently," she said as she watched Marth and Ranma practice katas in the field around Smash Headquarters.

"The Zero suit wasn't enticing enough?"

Samus glared at him.

"Guess not. Then again, with his kind of situation back home, female flesh is probably the last thing he thinks about."

Samus' curiosity was peaked, and Master Hand knew it too. "So what, he's batting for the other team then?"

"Tell you what, I'll show you the file if you do a little favor for me." Samus could almost see the grin on the faceless arena master.

"I'll bite. What do you want from me?" she asked sourly.

"There's a new recruit I want you to pick up." He brought out a second folder. "Feel free to take any one companion along with you except for Mewtwo."

Samus glanced at the new folder curiously. "What on earth is that?" she asked upon seeing the picture.

"A hedgehog. Goes by the name Sonic. Make sure to take someone fast."

* * *

A/N: I'd like to take a minute here to BLOW YOUR MIND with my insanely quick update. Don't ask me why, just roll with it. Reviews are appreciated, criticism even more so. Flames will probably be taken to a forum and dissected, but they're welcome all the same.

As a bonus, if you have a COMPLETE Rosario + Vampire or Haruhi Suzumiya story you want put under the critic microscope, drop by my forums under the mentioned sections and see if you qualify. They'll be under ClanCrusher. Till next time everyone.


	56. Smash Brother Ranma: Chapter 8

A/N: WARNING! PLEASE READ! After this chapter, this story will officially not be a re-write anymore. The old story is also going to be taken down in a weeks time, so if you want to copy any of the old chapters for any reason, this is your last chance. Also, this story will be dropping the 're-write' portion from its title as well. Be warned, and don't get confused. And, of course, enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

"So tell me Marth," breathed Ranma as he parried another strike from the practice blade. "When are you going to stop holding back?"

Marth blocked Ranma's return strike with the pommel of his blade before returning with a quick slash that the martial artist was forced to block with his bracers. "When thou fights me with thy full strength as well," he replied easily.

Ranma smirked and picked his speed up a notch in response to the challenge, only for Marth to do the same almost immediately. The battle had been going like this for nearly five minutes now, having started slow and picking up speed at a uniform pace every one minute interval. To the normal human eye, Ranma's fists and Marth's sword were little more than blurs at this point.

It had been three days since his fight with Mewtwo, and training with Marth was quickly becoming a steady part of his morning routine. Marth, quite frankly, was everything Kuno wished he could be and more. An incredible swordsman, a noble air around him that commanded respect like the ancient day samurai, and a generally friendly and likeable attitude.

Progress on battle meditation was almost nil though. Clearing the mind had become easier with practice and Ranma had made it a point to attempt it at least once every morning, midday, and afternoon. Even so, the only true way to practice would be fighting Mewtwo, something both were too prideful to even consider.

Marth was more than happy to share his experiences though, and although most of it was information that Ranma had inferred from his own fight, there were some valuable tidbits in there as well. For instance, Marth had once fought a battle with Mewtwo while constantly switching his sword-hand from right to left. For a while the information had seemed to conflict in the pokemon's mind, and trying to register the same forms at slightly different angles and positions gave him a few opportunities. However, Mewtwo had adapted, eventually seeing through the style and countering it.

Switching to completely different styles rapidly seemed to be less effective overall than making subtle changes to a style he'd already adapted to. Thinking about several things at once was also effective, but incredibly hard to maintain while fighting. After three days, trying to think up possible counters was rather tiring. And Marth had been trying to achieve a decisive victory over Mewtwo for almost a year now.

Some people had called him obsessed. Ranma, on the other hand, thought his stance perfectly reasonable after seeing various examples of obsession from his daily sparring partners. Speaking of sparring...

CLANG!

Ranma winced at the sound of Marth's wooden sword rebounding off his bracer. The strike had easily twice the force of Kuno's blows, and Marth was only using a one-handed weapon. The impact hadn't even seemed to faze the swordsman as he immediately retracted and struck from a different angle, keeping up the same level of power as before.

"You fight as though I'd had live steel," said Marth conversationally.

Ranma ducked under another swing and retaliated with a leg sweep that Marth hopped over. "No point in pretending it ain't real. You use a real sword in the real fight."

"A fair assessment," he conceded as chopped at the martial artist. "But what wouldst thou do if it wasn't a live blade?"

The martial artist smirked evilly. "This."

Before Marth could register his statement, Ranma deflected one of his strikes at an angle, and grabbed the wooden sword under his arm on the slight rebound. Aiming a kick at the opponent's torso, Ranma was a bit surprised when Marth let go of the sword, completely dodging the kick.

Ranma paused as he eyed his opponent standing across from him, looking rather unconcerned about being disarmed. "At this point I'd probably break it or throw it away somewhere," he provided before tossing it back to him.

"A reasonable plan," he conceded, catching the sword by the hilt. "Very well then, my sword is broken." Setting the blade off to the side, he removed his cape and shook out his hands a little. "Let's see what happens then." To Ranma's surprise, he then assumed a basic fighting stance.

"A hand to hand fight?" Asked the martial artist questioningly.

"I shall not always be with my blade," he responded reasonably, unknowingly gaining another point towards the martial artist's favor.

Ranma smirked and cracked his knuckles. "Alright then. Your funeral."

It was apparent after the first couple of exchanges that Marth's hand to hand skills were nowhere near his sword skills. Not bad by any means, but Ranma could immediately tell that Marth had to take a second to think about his actions before he did them. Instinctively, Ranma began to fall into teacher mode, moving around the strikes and poking at holes in his defense rather than retaliating with full strikes.

Marth was a quick learner though, and quickly began tightening his stances to leave less openings. Ten minutes in, he called it quits.

"It is apparent that the way of the fist is just as deep as the way of the sword. I have much to learn it would seem." Bowing slightly, he went to retrieve his cape and practice sword.

"You've got the basics down pretty well," complimented Ranma as he fell into step beside him.

"But naught but the basics," he admitted. "Enough to perhaps help me retrieve my blade and continue the fight."

"I may not be very good at battle meditation just yet, but that's a problem I can fix pretty easily," said Ranma confidently.

Marth raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Art thou making me an offer perhaps?"

The martial artist rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well...yeah. I guess so."

The swordsman smiled. "Then I shall accept your generous gift. However, I believe some form of repayment is in order."

"Um...well, I don't really think you have to-"

"Nonsense my fellow Smash Brother. Now," he swiped his card at one of the doors, his smile turning mischievous. "How well can you use a blade?"

"Well enough," came the slow response. "I never really liked using weapons though. Didn't want to rely on them if I ever got disarmed."

Marth nodded as he led them towards the mess hall. "A fair but narrow minded conception. One not need to fear disarmament if thou is good enough to begin with."

"I don't think anyone could ever get to the point where they couldn't be disarmed," said Ranma confidently.

Marth's continued smiling. "Oh? Do I sense a challenge in thy words?" The two fighters entered the mess hall and moved towards the breakfast buffet, filling their trays. The hour was early so the breakfast room was pretty much empty, aside from the shelled turtles and mushroom heads cleaning tables.

"What kind of challenge are we talking about?" asked Ranma suspiciously, taking a seat at one of the empty tables.

"A friendly bout," he assured the martial artist. "You try to disarm me with naught but your fists, and I shall stop you. If I succeed, then you shall become my student like I shall become yours. If you succeed, then I will concede my position."

"Alright then, it's a deal." He put his hand forward and shook with the swordsman. "I don't intend to lose though."

"We shall see when the time comes."

The conversation descended into a comfortable silence as the two Smash fighters focused on eating their meals.

"Six o clock in the morning. And here I thought I was the only one stupid enough to be up this early." Ranma looked up from his meal to see Sara take a seat beside him. "What's with the tense atmosphere? Did someone just issue a challenge?"

"A friendly match, nothing more," assured Marth with a smile.

"Friendly huh? I'll believe that when I see it. You guys can't even go one morning training session without beating each other half to death." She motioned towards the bruises on Ranma's arm and Marth's hands.

"This is but a small amount of the pain I'm willing to endure to ensure the defeat my rival."

"I barely feel it anymore," added Ranma.

Sara stared at them listlessly. "I think you two have boarded the same train on the one track mind," she deadpaned.

"It's nice to have a goal," said Ranma, completely unoffended.

"It's also nice to act normally once in a while."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Says the space bounty hunter with the freaky gun-whip," he retorted teasingly. He didn't bother dodging the light smack to the back of his head.

"So why art thou awake so early this morning?" Asked Marth, breaking into the conversation.

In response, the bounty hunter slapped a folder onto the table. "Recruitment."

Marth reached for the folder and began curiously looking it over. "Another combatant? Well, I suppose it is the off season." The swordsman was silent for a second as he looked over the documents. "A hedgehog?" he asked finally. "An interesting opponent."

Sara sighed. "Tell me about it. Apparently this guy is supposed to be the 'fastest thing alive' according to Master Hand."

That perked Ranma's attention. "A hedgehog is supposed to be the fastest thing alive? Really? Did he get exposed to gamma radiation or something?"

"Hard to say," said Sara, stretching her arms out. "Apparently he's in an alternate dimension from his own already due to someone in his old universe having dimensional traversing powers. Either way, Master Hand wants to extend an invitation and send one of our fighters to give a demonstration."

"So you're looking for a companion," assessed Marth accurately. "Have you decided on who you wish to take?"

"Well, Fox, Falco, and Wolf are all back to their own world for the summer, Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Bowser are all beginning their summer of sports, Lucario and Mewtwo are away on their summer training trip, Meta-knight, Kirby, and King De-de-de went back to...wherever they go during the summer, and Link and Zelda are both off training in the Smash forest. So you two were the last on my list."

"Gee thanks," said Ranma sarcastically. "Think I'll leave this one to you Marth."

"I just remembered about a training journey I must embark upon on the morrow. I wish you luck upon your search."

"Can I tag along?" asked Ranma, getting up along with Marth.

Sara reached out and grabbed both their arms. "I'm just kidding. Actually, you guys were my first choice. I promise."

Ranma rolled his eyes but took his seat. "I haven't even been here a full week yet. You think Master Hand is going to let me go dimension hopping?"

"You'd be surprised at what he allows," she muttered under her breath. "Either way, he recommended that I take someone fast. Either of you interested?"

Marth took another look at the folder. "Modern day era technology? Carrying a sword around in such a setting might prove to be a hindrance. I believe I shall sit this one out. Enjoy thyself Saotome."

"H-hey! I haven't said yes yet," he protested.

"Aw come on Ranma," pouted Sara cutely. "I asked nicely."

Ranma grimaced at the look. "Seriously, you take me and it's going to turn into a disaster. Marth carrying a sword would be small fry to what I'd accidentally cause."

"I think you're exaggerating," said Sara resolutely.

"Yeah well I think that I'm having a good week if I can avoid getting a new mortal enemy or fiancée. Seriously, you don't want that kind of attention on a recruitment trip."

"Nonsense," Sara replied easily. "I think we'll be fine."

"Hey, I still haven't agreed to anything yet!"

"But helping out your fellow Smash Sisters is part of the contract you made with Master Hand."

Ranma paused, knowing he'd been trapped. "Alright fine. You win."

Sara smirked at her victory. "Glad to hear it. We'll be leaving tomorrow, so make sure to get some rest." Grabbing her toast, she waved goodbye to the Smash brothers and left the room.

"You ever been to an alternate dimension before?" asked Ranma after she had left.

"Naught but this one," responded Marth. "I tend to stand out in most scenarios, and I do not like to journey forth without my blade."

"Never stopped my mom," mumbled Ranma. "She just takes her sword everywhere regardless."

"In a modern setting? Brave woman indeed," he mused.

"You don't know the half of it."

* * *

" _It's getting worse isn't it?_ "

Master Hand folded his gloves in front of his darkened head. "It's always going to get worse before it gets better," he reasoned easily.

" _It's only a matter of time until Jodah finds a way through our security and gets the evidence he needs_ ," spoke Mewtwo. " _I, more than anyone else, know just how many rules you've violated in setting up this arena. Should Jodah find this evidence, he will have all the authority he needs to end this tournament, and you as well_."

"Relax my old friend. Even if he does get the authority to take action against me, we have some of the best and most resourceful fighters in the universe on our side. I'd be more than confident in putting a god against any one of them. Some of them already have fought gods," reasoned the arena master.

" _Do you intend to wage a full scale war against Asgard then?_ " The telepathic voice rose audibly in volume.

"Don't be silly, I intend to pitch Asgard into a battle with Hell and then sweep in and take over when both sides are decimated from a long drawn out war."

Mewtwo remained silent.

"I'm just kidding," he assured the pokemon quickly.

" _I never can tell with you_ ," responded Mewtwo, shaking his head.

"I know. Excellent poker face and all that. Honestly though, I do have a plan. I always knew that being found out would happen eventually.

" _Would you like to inform me of this plan before things get out of hand this time?_ " The sarcasm was broadcast clearly with his message.

"Where's the fun in that?" he asked back, amusement in his voice.

Mewtwo merely stared at him, unblinkingly.

"Alright fine. Here's the plan." Taking hold of the monitor, Master Hand spun it around to face the pokemon. There was a moment of silence as he read, followed by a slight widening of the eyes.

" _You intend to challenge them?_ "

"Exciting isn't it? A no holds barred Super Smash Battle against the gods themselves. Can you think of the possibilities? Much less the ratings."

Mewtwo shook his head. " _Do you really think they'll go for this? They could delete our universe in an instant should they so desire._ "

"It's very unlikely that they'll be able to destroy us that easily," assured Master Hand. "The level of paperwork alone would turn most heads, god or not. And the big man hasn't allowed the outright destruction of a universe for millions of years. No, he won't destroy us, but he'll start chipping away at our resources, forcefully sending characters back to their home universes and such."

" _Couldn't we just oppose him diplomatically then?_ "

"We could, but we're fighting against an opponent with much more resources and divinity backing than we do right now. What we need to do, is offer him a challenge. A quick dirty solution that he'll jump at, confident he can win."

" _You intend to wager the entire future of the Smash Universe upon a single tournament?_ "

"Exciting isn't it?"

" _Reckless was the word I was going to use._ "

"If we don't fix this problem now, it will only continue to grow. We must head this off soon, or it will be too late." The humor was gone from Master Hand's voice now. "This isn't reckless. It's a carefully calculated gamble. It's also our best chance for survival."

" _There's still a chance that Jodah won't even take the challenge,_ " protested Mewtwo one last time.

"If he has any pride left as a god, there's no way he'll refuse a challenge made to him by mortals." Master Hand left his desk and faced his window, folding his hands behind his back.

"I should know. After all, I used to be one."

* * *

"Hey Link, what do you usually take when you go do a different dimension?" asked Ranma later that night.

Link thought about it for a minute. "Let's see, I usually take my clawshots, iron boots, megaton hammer, bow and arrows, bombs, mirror shield, Master Sword, Zora tunic, Goron tunic-"

"Right, stupid question," interrupted Ranma. "You just take everything."

"Well, Zelda always did say that I'm somewhat of a packrat," he said sheepishly. "I still have a lot of stuff around that I never use, like the Rod of Seasons and Harp of Ages. I've always been better at the ocarina though."

"Have you ever gone on a recruitment mission before?" asked Ranma curiously.

"A few times. Pit was one of my charges for a while, and I was with Mewtwo when he went to recruit Ness and Lucas."

"How did it go?"

"Pretty simply actually. Mewtwo just showed up, gave them an invitation, and then gave them a demonstration. A few days later, a dimensional rift opened up and they popped through. I think you're worrying too much. Chances are you won't even be there a full day."

"If our ship doesn't crash upon landing and strand us in an alternate dimension for a few days while we fight some sort of super villain before we're actually able to recruit anyone, then I'll consider it a trip wasted," returned Ranma sarcastically. "Seriously, give it time."

"I think you're being paranoid," said Link jokingly. "Master Hand wouldn't send you to a dimension too vastly different from your own until you have more experience with this kind of thing. He knows what he's doing."

* * *

" _So I heard you're planning on sending Sara and Ranma on a recruitment mission. Are you sure you that's wise?_ "

"Meh. I figured I'd just send him somewhere and see what happens. Even if he fails I'm almost certain it'll be entertaining."

" _You're crazy you know that?_ "

"Not me, really. It's just my brother."

* * *

For some reason, Ranma couldn't suppress the cold shudder that traveled through his spine. "Yeah, I wonder about that sometimes."

"Look, Master Hand knows what he's doing. He wouldn't send you out on this mission unless he thought you were ready for it."

"I've been here almost one week and got into three fights," the martial artist deadpanned. "How could he possibly tell if I'm ready to go dimension hopping from just that?"

"Well, okay, maybe he's making an educated guess based on your profile and current performance?"

"..."

"Not buying that either huh? Just stop worrying about it already. How much trouble could one little hedgehog possibly be?"

Ranma suddenly seized up. "God dammit you said it."

Link blinked. "Said what?"

"You said the words. How bad could this possibly be? You know what? When things do go wrong, I'm blaming everything on you now. Just to let you know."

"Right, sure. Blame accepted. Now get some sleep. You need to be up early tomorrow."

* * *

"So this is your ship?" asked Ranma, looking over the space vessel. It was early morning and Ranma and Sara were on the roof of Smash Bros headquarters were a variety of alien looking spaceships were docked.

"Yep," said Sara proudly.

"Not exactly a stealth model is it?"

"What makes you say that?"

"It's bright orange and red. How exactly is this not going to get noticed by everyone who isn't colorblind?"

"It has a stealth feature," she pointed out, minorly annoyed. "I can camouflage it when I need to."

"Oh well in that case it looks pretty cool."

Ranma didn't know virtually anything about spaceships or space combat in general, but he could tell that Sara's ship was one built for combat. With two cannons on either side of the cockpit and a small, light frame, Ranma correctly assumed that Sara's ship was a hit and run work of art, boasting max speed and firepower along with the best armor they could put on it that wouldn't hamper its agility.

Walking to the underside of the ship, Ranma watched interestedly as a platform descended from the bottom of the ship.

"Technically, this ship only seats one person, but two can still fit comfortably," she assured the martial artist. She took a stand on the platform. "Well, come on."

Ranma glanced around nervously. "Uh, that's kind of a small platform."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Be a man will you? Unless you want me to wait for ten minutes while you go find cold water."

The martial artist sighed and stepped onto the small platform, brushing lightly against the bounty hunter's back.

"I'm sorry that standing next to a good looking woman is such a chore for you," said Sara, completely unsympathetically.

"Just raise the platform will you?"

Sara smirked at the victory, but raised the platform anyways.

The inside of the ship was small, but not cramped. A single laid back seat was at the front of the ship which Sara immediately occupied while Ranma took a smaller, upright seat in the back, watching interestedly as Sara placed her hand on one of the sensors. As if a key had just been turned, the ship suddenly started coming to life around them. Displays began popping up around Sara's seat, and a large galaxy map placed itself over the front window of the ship.

"So where are we going anyways?" asked Ranma, after getting bored of looking around the ship.

"Didn't you read the file?" asked Sara, somewhat annoyed.

"Yeah, I got about to the part where it said that we're chasing after a blue hedgehog who can run Mach II and suddenly felt like I was wasting my time."

The ship jerked suddenly as the landing gear retracted and began hovering on its own power. The whine of the engines started growing steadily louder.

"You haven't seen many of the fighters here have you? We have foxes, wolves, falcons, pokemon, and you think this is a joke?" The engines reached a steady pitch and the craft began moving out of the hanger bay into the open airspace.

"Okay, point taken, but why is a hedgehog the fastest thing alive then? I mean, a cheetah-human I could understand, but last I checked, the hedgehog had a max speed of about five miles per hour."

"And in my universe, dragons can fly through space," countered Sara. "Rules tend to change from dimension to dimension."

"Whatever, I'll believe it when I see it."

Sara began entering numbers on a keypad. "Oh, you'll see soon enough. You might want to fasten your seat-belt by the way."

It was only due to his superior reflexes that Ranma was able to buckle himself in in time for the takeoff. With a sound akin to an explosion, the ship shot off, quickly leaving the town below as nothing more than specks, clearing the cloudscape in seconds, and shooting off through the atmosphere.

Turning in her chair, Sara gave a small smile towards Ranma, whose hand was still holding the buckle of the seat-belt with a white knuckled grip. "You know, that wasn't funny," he said finally.

"Humor is in the eye of the beholder," she responded wisely. "Might want to brace yourself for this next one though. Entering warp speed in three, two, one-"

"Next wha-" FWOOM!

The sound seemed to be briefly sucked from the air as Ranma was pushed back forcefully in his seat. The blackened sky around the window was illuminated in white for a few brief seconds before turning black again.

"Jump successful. Now entering the Linkat galaxy. We should be planetside on this universe's Earth in about ten minutes with our current speed," informed Sara. "So, how does it feel to travel through dimensions?"

Ranma blinked. "That was it? I was expecting something a little more...dramatic than that. Almost seems simple."

Sara reclined in her seat. "Well, getting there is easy enough. Finding the proper dimensional coordinates, the correct dimensional path, the right galaxy in the dimension itself, and the location of the target is another matter entirely. We'd probably have more fighters around if it wasn't so hard to find them along with living up to Master Hand's standards."

Ranma reclined in his chair as best he could. It was easy to tell that the seat was installed after the ship had been built, being a bit off color from the normal colors. "What exactly are his expectations anyways?"

"Hard to say," she replied honestly. "People like Marth and you get in because of their love for battle and combat skill. Link and I were accepted for our resourcefulness, and Mewtwo simply because he's a powerhouse."

Ranma snorted. "You got recruited for your resourcefulness? Really? I mean, Link I can understand, but unless that gun-whip of yours is like a swiss army gun..."

"Oh I have my secrets," she assured him teasingly. "Who knows, maybe I'll actually have to use some when I fight you next."

"Feel free. You're going to need all the help you can-"

CRASH!

The ship ship shook violently. Alarm klaxons began sounding and red lights began flashing in the cockpit.

"Proximity alert?" Sara muttered to herself while furiously typing on the console. "With what? This dimension isn't supposed to have advanced space travel just..." Her words faded out as a gigantic battle-cruiser suddenly de-cloaked in front of them.

"Brace for evasive maneuvers!" She shouted back to Ranma.

"Brace on what? This chair doesn't even have arm rests!"

CRASH!

The ship seemed to ricochet off the wing of the bigger ship and deflect into its hull. Surprisingly, instead of exploding on impact like Ranma expected, the ship tore through the hull, skidding along the ground for a bit before-

CRASH!

Exiting from the other side. But not before-

CRASH! CRASH! KA-BOOM!

-bouncing around the docking station a bit.

"Kinetic barriers holding at forty-six percent," informed Sara. "I think we're okay but I'll have to run a diagnostics check to make sure-"

BOOM!

The small ship shook suddenly.

"Dammit! They're firing at us. Activating heat sinks and camouflage unit. I don't think we can take a ship that size. It's probably carrying smaller fighters for backup too."

Another warning sound began to rise above the others. Sara seemed surprised. "They got an engine? Oh you lucky bastards. Still got that seatbelt fastened?"

"Like I'd take it off with you driving!"

"Good, then brace yourself-"

"On what?"

"-cause this landing's going to be rough."

"Wait, we're landing? Where?"

"On their Earth. If I can time it right, we should be able to hit our target landing zone."

"You know, I really don't like it when you say hit. Can you try using 'land' instead?"

"No promises! Now hold on!"

* * *

"Dr. Eggman! We're under attack!"

The doctor glanced at the frantic robot curiously. "By what? There's nothing on this planet indicating they've built anything more than basic fuel propelled rockets."

"I don't know what it was but it blew a hole in our docking bay the size of a truck! The vacuum sucked out half of our fighters before we even knew what was happening!"

Eggman rubbed his mustache thoughtfully. "Someone was able to see through our cloaking technology and deliver a critical blow to our fighting force. This bears investigating. A new foe has arrived with technology far surpassing our own. We must tread carefully."

* * *

Ranma coughed a couple of times as the smoke cleared from the cockpit. Despite a few sparks coming from the terminals, the ship appeared to be relatively whole, with little superficial damage other than needing a new paint job.

"So tell me Sara," groaned Ranma as he unfastened his life saving seat-belt. "Why couldn't you avoid that ship the size of a small nation?"

"They had a cloaking device on," she explained, extracting herself from her pilot's seat. "I wasn't checking for heat signatures because the file said there wasn't any notable advancements in space technology in this universe."

"Oh, the file said that? Well, I'm glad I took the time to read it then," said Ranma sarcastically. "Any more useful nuggets of information for us?"

"Yes actually. It involved your face and my tazer." She brandished her gun-whip threateningly.

Ranma sighed. "Right, point taken. Sorry," he added quickly.

Sara matched his sigh. "We should probably assess the damage and see if we can still cloak."

"Hey Sara, is your on-board computer still working?"

Sara quickly tapped a few keys before nodding affirmative.

"Good. Can you send an e-mail from here?"

Sara looked at him questioningly. "What for? Can't exactly call a tow-truck down here."

"Nah, I just wanted to tell Link that I totally called it. That's all."

* * *

A/N: Our heroes, trapped (sort of) in the Sonic universe. What could possibly go wrong here? Better question: What can't go wrong when Ranma's involved? Find out in the next chapter.

Reviews are appreciated, criticism even more so. Flames will be happily accepted and dissected on one of my numerous forums, because that's how I roll. Don't expect every update to be this soon though. I've god Resonance of Fate, Red Dead Redemption, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 to play through.


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